Microsoft-Activision Blizzard Merger Finally Gets Preliminary Approval From The UK CMA
The UK Competition and Markets Authority’s long-running investigation into the Microsoft-ABK merger looks like it will soon be coming to an end in favor of Microsoft. After much ado, the regulatory agency has given its preliminary approval for the $69 billion deal after Microsoft agreed to restructure the deal to give Ubisoft perpetual cloud streaming rights to all existing Activision Blizzard games and new ones that will be released over the next 15 years.
“The CMA considers that the restructured deal makes important changes that substantially address the concerns it set out in relation to the original transaction earlier this year,” reads the announcement. “The sale of Activision’s cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft substantially addresses previous concerns and opens the door to the deal being cleared.”
It’s worth noting that the CMA has yet to give its full approval for the deal and have recently opened another consultation with Microsoft to hear out the company’s proposed concessions to finally get the merger approved in the UK. The consultation is scheduled to end on October 6th.
Now that Microsoft has secured preliminary approval for the merger, they’re now one step closer to finalizing the deal that’s been on hold since January 2022. The deadline for the merger has been extended until October 18th which gives both parties less than a month to get everything in order or risk having the deal cancelled after all the work they’ve put into it.
