Activision Blizzard will receive up to $4.5 billion compensation from Microsoft if their proposed merger deal falls through at this late stage. The new figure has emerged following today’s announcement that Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have agreed to extend the merger agreement deadline to October 18, 2023.
Activision was previously set to receive $3 billion if the Microsoft deal failed
The previous deadline for Microsoft and Activision Blizzard to complete their merger agreement was yesterday, July 18, 2023. In the previous agreement, if Microsoft had failed to close the merger by that date, Activision Blizzard was set to receive $3 billion in compensation.
Both Activision Blizzard and Microsoft remain confident the deal will be closed before the new deadline of October 18. However, in the unlikely event the deal is terminated before August 29, 2023, Activision Blizzard will still receive $3 billion compensation. If the deal is terminated between August 30 and September 15, the publisher will receive $3.5 billion. If the Microsoft deal is terminated after September 15, Activision Blizzard would be in line to receive $4.5 billion in compensation.
Microsoft is now technically free to close its deal in the United States following Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley’s ruling in favor of the company in its court case against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). An FTC appeal was not successful and a gamers’ lawsuit against the proposed deal has also been thrown out of court. However, Microsoft still has to negotiate with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which has blocked the deal in the United Kingdom.
The new agreement sees the deadline extended to October 18 so Microsoft can “continue to work with the CMA on the issues raised in the UK”, according to a statement from Microsoft president Brad Smith. The CMA has now extended its own deadline for its new investigation into the deal; this is August 29, although the aim is to reach an agreement before that date.
