After winning the European Commission’s approval and triumphing over the FTC, the hard-fought acquisition may close by July 18 if the U.K.’s CMA block is rejected.
To the victor, the gaming spoils... well, they're one big step closer. After winning the European Commission’s approval, Xbox’s hard-fought acquisition of Activision Blizzard has now triumphed in a U.S. court over the FTC’s block of the deal. With (almost) all challengers defeated, the $69 billion merger deal may close very soon.
The official ruling from the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California found that “the FTC has not shown a likelihood it will prevail” on the prior claim that the deal “may substantially lessen competition,” as stated by District Court Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley. Citing Microsoft’s commitment to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for 10 years, she concluded that, “To the contrary, the record evidence points to more consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content.”
Now, Microsoft has signaled the intent to close the biggest takeover in gaming history by the July 18 deal termination date. The last hitch in the plan of total domination is a pending resolution to the U.K.’s CMA block.
“We’re grateful to the Court in San Francisco for this quick and thorough decision and hope other jurisdictions will continue working towards a timely resolution,” Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith said in a statement. “As we’ve demonstrated consistently throughout this process, we are committed to working creatively and collaboratively to address regulatory concerns.”
Regarding the CMA, Smith said, “While we ultimately disagree with the CMA’s concerns, we are considering how the transaction might be modified in order to address those concerns in a way that is acceptable to the CMA. In order to prioritize work on these proposals, Microsoft and Activision have agreed with the CMA that a stay of the litigation in the U.K. would be in the public interest and the parties have made a joint submission to the Competition Appeal Tribunal to this effect.”
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick added in a separate statement, “Our merger will benefit consumers and workers. It will enable competition rather than allow entrenched market leaders to continue to dominate our rapidly growing industry.” Kotick added, "We’re optimistic that today’s ruling signals a path to full regulatory approval elsewhere around the globe, and we stand ready to work with U.K. regulators to address any remaining concerns so our merger can quickly close."
Despite a solid beating, the FTC was granted an emergency temporary restraining order to block the deal, which according to Corley, "will dissolve at 11:59 p.m. on July 14, 2023, unless the FTC obtains a stay pending appeal from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals."
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