According to recent information from the first pre-trial hearing on the Microsoft deal with Activision Blizzard King (ABK), Microsoft intends to go ahead and close the deal if the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is unable to reach a resolution.This comes from new info regarding the acquisition that has surfaced just recently.
- Related Reading: Microsoft Challenges FTC Lawsuit, Looking to Present Case in Court
Microsofts’ lead counsel, Beth Wilkinson, stated in the pre-trial hearing that once Microsoft and ABK manage to work out a remedy with pending jurisdictions, the deal will “go forward.” She also mentions that the companies already assume this to result in the FTC taking the case to federal court.
Wilkinson also stated that if the company works out any remedies with the European Commission (EC) of Europe or the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of the United Kingdom, it will also offer the same remedies to the FTC.
The deal is undergoing review over in Europe and the UK and we are hoping that they will be resolved and if there are remedies that are appropriate we can come back to … the FTC to talk about a resolution.
To prepare for the potential development to federal court, Microsoft and ABK have agreed to expedite the discovery schedule with the FTC, due to the deal’s termination date being on July 18, 2023. For reference, FTC’s in-house trial is scheduled for August 2, 2023, and the FTC has yet to officially file an injunction to block the deal.
Microsoft is “still expecting” to close the deal by the original termination date. Once the Microsoft-ActiBlizz case develops even further, we’ll let you know.
Source: MLex via ResetEra
Related Reading:
good
Lol they can’t do that 🤣
Yes they can the FTC has offered no terms or possible resolutions to their concerns and have denied Microsoft an audience to even potentially reach a resolution which will ruin their argument in court. Sony ain’t stopping nothing and they are going to lose COD in 10 year’s and they are scared becausr they owe 2 trillion in debt and cOD revenue is what is keeping their debtors happy without it they go bust
The FTC is just full of shit.
Some gamers from some rando state put up a better argument than they did and they still don’t have a valid argument.
Y’all do realize that if Microsoft doesn’t win this deal they can get super petty and do what Jim Ryan does but on a larger scale since Microsoft has so much friggin money.
Since it’s essentially FINE to purchase exclusivity and even offer up a “exclude the other consoles” 1st and 3rd party game industries Microsoft can just take that 80 billion and just purchase the exclusivities from so many developers to get back at Sony for ruining a deal.
This is gonna get petty fast.