In the latest blow to the Microsoft-Activision deal, the two corporations have been prohibited from acquiring an interest in each other by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), until the Reference (further investigation and report by a group of CMA panel members) is determined. The decision was announced through an interim order published by the CMA today.
- Related Reading: EA CEO on Microsoft-Activision Acquisition: Not “Material to Us” If Deal Goes Through or Not, EA Still #1 Xbox Publisher
On April 26, the CMA officially blocked the Microsoft-Activision deal in the UK on the basis of unresolved cloud gaming competition concerns, including but not limited to the inadequacy of Microsoft’s proposed remedies which let it keep all of the revenue from Activision games on competing cloud gaming services. Microsoft and Activision both announced their intent to appeal the decision; however, such a deal will remain blocked in the UK for the next decade unless the appeal is successful.
Further, the regulator has now ordered that Microsoft and Activision (and all subsidiaries of both companies) cannot acquire a stake in each other without the CMA’s prior approval, until the Reference is determined:
Except with the prior written consent of the CMA, Microsoft and all members of the Group of Interconnected Bodies Corporate to which it may belong must not:
(a) acquire an Interest in Activision or any of its Subsidiaries;
(b) acquire an Interest in an Enterprise holding an Interest in Activision or carrying on the business of Activision from time to time; or
(c) hold an option to acquire an Interest referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b) above.Except with the prior written consent of the CMA, Activision and all members of the Group of Interconnected Bodies Corporate to which it may belong must not:
(a) acquire an Interest in Microsoft or any of its Subsidiaries;
(b) acquire an Interest in an Enterprise holding an Interest in Microsoft or carrying on the business of Microsoft from time to time; or
(c) hold an option to acquire an Interest referred to in subparagraphs (a) and (b) above.
Meanwhile, the US FTC as well as regulators in the EU and China are yet to announce their verdict on the deal, though a decision in the EU is expected sometime next week. Stay tuned here at MP1st for all upcoming news and announcements about the Microsoft-Activision deal.
Source: CMA