After the FTC vir court suffered sensitive defeats in the context of the takeover of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, the authority now apparently throws in the towel.
Alongside the British CMA, the American Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was probably the toughest adversary when Microsoft took over Activision. However, after the FTC had to take several defeats in court in its attempt to block the takeover, the authority has now thrown in the towel and discontinued the ongoing internal proceedings.
Following court victories, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard this week asked the FTC’s internal judge to drop the case the FTC had brought against them, arguing that opposing the merger runs counter to both corporate and consumer interests.
Now the Federal Trade Commission has apparently closed its proceedings against the planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft without further objection. Microsoft finally has the green light in the USA to complete the deal.
The last hurdle in the way of the takeover is the British CMA, but things are also moving. The CMA itself recently announced that it had pushed back the deadline for its final decision on the acquisition to August 29. As a result, the British Court of Appeal granted the authority and Microsoft a two-month extension to clarify the deal.
Both Microsoft and the CMA have shown willingness to return to the negotiating table. It is currently up to Microsoft to adjust the proposed deal to address the CMA’s concerns about the cloud gaming market. For their part, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have extended the acquisition agreement that expired on July 18 until October 18.
