The planned takeover of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft is dragging on like chewing gum and is always hitting new hurdles. The approval of a number of antitrust authorities around the world is still necessary – but they are sometimes extremely critical, including the European Union.
Microsoft must continue to fight for the planned $ 68 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard. In order for this to go ahead, the corresponding deal must be approved by a number of antitrust authorities around the world. And while a few countries have already done so, Microsoft is facing real resistance in larger markets. The FTC in the US has already announced a lawsuit against the deal, strong concerns have been expressed in Great Britain – and now, according to a new report, the EU does not seem to want to agree without further ado.
The European Commission has been investigating the planned takeover since the beginning of November, but has yet to comment on the initial results. More time has recently been given for this and a first report has now been announced by April 11 at the latest, although this was originally planned earlier.
According to a report by Reuters But Microsoft shouldn’t expect any clumsy approval of the deal. It relies on unspecified sources that are said to be close to those responsible in Brussels.
The responsible European competition law authority will therefore publish a statement in which the concerns about the planned deal will be addressed in more detail. Microsoft and the public should be informed about this in the coming weeks.
Such a “statement of objections” is not binding and is regarded as informative correspondence in the review process. The regulators are thus expressing their concerns without directly starting a legal dispute. The parties involved can take note of this and then make concessions, for example, in order to prevent official and escalating antitrust proceedings. According to an earlier report, Microsoft is already preparing such a package of concessions in order to be able to present it to the EU. Before the publication of their own report, however, they did not want to discuss such concessions on the part of the antitrust authorities.
Despite all the obstacles, Microsoft expects to close the deal by mid-2023. So far, the antitrust authorities in Brazil, Chile, Saudi Arabia and Serbia have approved.
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