Amidst a major ongoing court case with the FTC, the Microsoft acquisition with Activision could soon face yet another roadblock, with New Zealand seemingly poised to block the acquisition, as well. The CMA, the UK regulator, also voted to block the $69 billion acquisition recently. The New Zealand Commerce Commission specifically highlights concerns around the acquisition’s potential impact on the budding cloud gaming scene.
Will Microsoft be able to acquire Activision?
Although Microsoft and Activision have faced some opposition from three agencies now, New Zealand has not yet technically voted to block the acquisition as their investigation is still ongoing. Recently, Microsoft began the process of appealing the CMA’s decision to block the acquisition, and there is an ongoing court battle with the FTC right now.
While the deal does face some steep opposition right now, it is worth noting that many other major regulation entities have already approved Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. In fact, the acquisition has been fully approved in thirty-six countries already, including Japan, Ukraine, Brazil, Serbia, and the European Commission, which itself accounts for twenty-seven countries.
Only four major agencies remain in contention, with Australia and New Zealand still investigating the acquisition, whilst Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard attempt to fight the decisions to block the deal from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the Federal Trade Commission in the United States, both companies’ home country.
Why Microsoft and Activision Are in Court Right Now
How all of this will shake out is still very much up in the air. For the deal to close properly, it needs to be completed by July 18, 2023. If the companies are not able to do so by then, they will be required to renegotiate the acquisition. Right now, the companies are embroiled in a major court case against the FTC to defend the proposed deal.
The FTC is currently attempting to impose a preliminary injunction against the two companies, and if they are successful in doing so then the companies will be legally prevented from merging while the FTC continues its antitrust investigations. This case will go until June 29th at the latest, and if the FTC is successful, it could potentially result in the deal falling apart entirely, as the next step in defending it would have to wait until August 2nd when an evidentiary hearing between the FTC and Microsoft/Activision is set to take place.
Because this hearing is after July 18th, by which the acquisition must either be completed or the companies begin renegotiations, there exists the possibility that the merger falls apart entirely during renegotiations before the hearing can even take place if the injunction is granted.
The potential acquisition was first announced on January 18th, 2022. Since then, it has been under intense scrutiny from both regulators and the public. It has a long way to go before all is said and done, and the ongoing court case and potential blocker from yet another regulator only places yet another obstacle in the way.
How do you feel about this potential blocker? Are you hoping the deal goes through, or would you rather Activision remain separate from Microsoft and Xbox entirely? Let us know in the comments and on our social media feeds!
Source: GameRant
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