The CMA seems to have once again tried to make it harder for Microsoft and Activision to get their deal to go through. Under the Competition Appeals Tribunal, however, they didn’t get what they wanted.
Basically, the CMA filed a request to the CAT to adjourn the appeal process all the way to October. They had cited several reasons for this, mainly that CMA’s team did not get as much preparation compared to Microsoft’s and Activision’s team, and that they also did not get sufficient time to be ready for this.
Of course, CMA’s request was denied, and the trial is pushing ahead this July, a week after the deadline for Microsoft and Activision to finalize the deal itself.
The CAT mainly said this in rejection of the deal, as found in page 9 of the document:
“The CMA is quite right to emphasise the very considerable public interest in the proper disposal of Microsoft’s application. The CMA must understand that otherwise merger decisions involve very considerable interference in the lawful business of undertakings. That is why the process for considering whether the merger should be prohibited must be conducted quickly. That includes, we stress, any review of a decision prohibiting the merger. It is in principle wrong, and unfair, to have an expedited process for making a decision, and no expedited process for reviewing it. The Tribunal’s practice and guidance are clear in this regard.”
The Tribunal then goes on to question how the CMA could need more preparation, when they had went through their own process investigating this merger. It also criticizes them for suggesting that the team of Microsoft’s and Activision’s high profile legal advisors would create an imbalance between the two groups arguing on the appeal. The CMA then says this:
“We consider that the CMA has not paid sufficient heed to the true public interest in this case – which is the swift resolution of Microsoft’s Notice.”
It should be noted, in the situation that the Microsoft – Activision deal is not blocked by an injunction from Judge Corley’s California federal court, then the two parties can just finalize the deal. The CMA’s actions won’t really affect this outcome.
Really, if the CMA eventually wins their case on the appeal in the UK, the most they would accomplish is require Activision to spinoff a separate company or subsidiary to handle matters only in the UK. They can no longer effectively stop the deal from happening.
But at this point, this case does seem to be more about the politics of the CMA in the UK itself, defying their own MPs and other officials. It’s unfortunate that UK gamers are really the ones who can ultimately be harmed by this power play, not Microsoft and Activision themselves.
As the final outcomes of this deal and regulation come down, we can only hope it ends in something that is best for the industry, and the consumers that keep that industry feasible.
