The Financial Times has reported on the Microsoft-Activision deal in a start of the week roundup article. They claim that the CMA is likely to approve the deal this week.
This comes from an article called “Back To Life”, and it’s about the state of the world, and where the global economy sits as a result. In that regard, it also cites other expected and upcoming events. For example, it also claims that POTUS Biden will announce a second presidential run.
More seriously, it notes the importance of Q1 GDP numbers to be reported by US, South Korea, and EU. In any case, here is the paragraph which brings up the deal:
“It is also a big week for Big Tech with quarterly results from Amazon.com, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft. The latter will also have an eye on the UK, where on Wednesday the Competition and Markets Authority is due to finally rule on whether to block the technology company’s $69bn takeover of games maker Activision Blizzard, although this is likely to prove a damp squib as the CMA is expected to support it.”
Now, as Florian Mueller notes in response to this quote, they are not claiming they have insider or advance knowledge of CMA’s decision.
But Florian himself also appreciates the importance of this week. As he tweeted two days before:
“Next week will be huge for #Microsoft-#ActivisionBlizzard.
Wednesday: CMA (UK) decision
Friday: ComCom (NZ) decision
Regulators are free to render their decisions ahead of such deadlines. And maybe there will be media reports that give us an indication in advance.”
You may not have heard of the New Zealand regulator investigation into the deal. There is nothing suspicious about that. The common consensus in the industry, accepted by Microsoft themselves, is that the FTC, EU, and CMA were the most important regulators to sway to accept the deal.
But of course, even if that’s true, Microsoft wants to get as much approvals in as many regions as possible, so that they can take their business with Activision with all those countries cleanly.
And with that in mind, Florian himself was on top of updates on the New Zealand decision:
“The Competition Commission of New Zealand has postponed its #Microsoft-#ActivisionBlizzard merger ruling from April 28 (this week’s Friday) to June 9. The administrative clock had been stopped, but was restarted last Tuesday, which is a good sign though things still take time.”
Keep following GameRanx as we will definitely report on the CMA decision and other developments of the Microsoft-Activision deal as it happens.
