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CMA Approves Microsoft's Acquisition of Activision-Blizzard
It's almost official; the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK (CMA) has approved Microsoft's bid to acquire Activision-Blizzard. This comes after a restructured deal that sees Ubisoft Entertainment SA acquiring the rights to sell and distribute cloud games of Activision-Blizzard. This basically brings an end to the two-year saga where Microsoft and went through the gauntlet to get this deal over the line.
We’re grateful for the CMA’s thorough review and decision today. We have now crossed the final regulatory hurdle to close this acquisition, which we believe will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide.
— Brad Smith (@BradSmi) October 13, 2023
Tweet By Microsoft's Vice Chair and President Brad Smith
We’ve cleared the new deal for Microsoft to buy Activision without cloud gaming rights.
— Competition & Markets Authority (@CMAgovUK) October 13, 2023
In August, Microsoft made a concession that would see Ubisoft, instead of Microsoft, buy Activision’s cloud gaming rights.
Read more: https://t.co/Z4scLEJFy0
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The CMA is resolute in its determination to prevent mergers that harm competition and deliver bad outcomes for consumers and businesses. We take our decisions free from political influence and we won’t be swayed by corporate lobbying
We delivered a clear message to Microsoft that the deal would be blocked unless they comprehensively addressed our concerns and stuck to our guns on that.
With the sale of Activision’s cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft, we’ve made sure Microsoft can’t have a stranglehold over this important and rapidly developing market. As cloud gaming grows, this intervention will ensure people get more competitive prices, better services and more choice. We are the only competition agency globally to have delivered this outcome.
But businesses and their advisors should be in no doubt that the tactics employed by Microsoft are no way to engage with the CMA. Microsoft had the chance to restructure during our initial investigation but instead continued to insist on a package of measures that we told them simply wouldn’t work. Dragging out proceedings in this way only wastes time and money.
For the full statement by the CMA, please refer to the document below.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/microsoft-concession-a-gamechanger-that-will-promote-competition
