MS Breaking Through UK Regulatory Barriers, Poised for a '92 Trillion Won Big Deal' Success

[Photo by Reuters]

The $92 trillion "big deal" between Microsoft (MS) and Activision Blizzard, which had been stalled due to antitrust regulations, has crossed the final hurdle toward completion. The major deal between the two companies, which faced multiple threats of collapse due to acquisition blocks by regulatory authorities in countries including the UK and the US, is now nearing final approval.

On the 22nd (local time), according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and others, the UK's regulatory authority, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), stated that MS's revised proposal for the acquisition of Activision Blizzard "has largely alleviated concerns about market monopoly."

In a statement that day, the CMA said, "MS's proposal to partially transfer cloud gaming service rights to competitor Ubisoft is very new and substantial." The CMA added that this opens the way for the MS and Blizzard merger to be completed and that it will continue consultations with MS before making a final decision.

Previously, the CMA had issued a decision to block the acquisition but has been reviewing the new acquisition plan submitted by MS on the 22nd of last month. In the new proposal, MS offered to sell the cloud service rights for popular games such as 'Call of Duty' outside Europe to competitor Ubisoft. This was a corrective measure following the CMA's concern expressed on April 26 that "competition in the cloud gaming market could be reduced."

Foreign media evaluated that since MS decided to give up the cloud gaming service rights, which was the core issue, the CMA's final approval is essentially secured. Alex Hafner, a lawyer at the UK law firm Fladgate, said, "Stakeholders have been given two weeks to reach a final decision, but the CMA's judgment is no different from granting final approval for this deal."

Bloomberg reported that the target completion date for the acquisition deal set by MS is the 18th of next month, and the CMA plans to conclude consultations with MS by the 6th of next month. Brad Smith, MS Vice Chairman, said, "There has been very encouraging progress in the UK regulatory review process," adding, "We will continue to work to obtain final approval."

The likelihood of success is also increasing in the US, where antitrust controversies were significant. The opposition eased after a US federal court dismissed the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) injunction request to block MS's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The European Union (EU) regulatory authority, the European Commission, conditionally approved the acquisition in May after accepting MS's proposal to allow cloud gaming platforms to provide streaming services without paying royalties.

MS completed the acquisition of Blizzard for $68.7 billion (approximately 92 trillion won) in January last year, marking the largest merger and acquisition in the history of the global information technology (IT) industry. As a latecomer in the gaming market, MS pursued aggressive mergers and acquisitions to expand its market share, and by acquiring the gaming giant Blizzard, it has risen to stand shoulder to shoulder with China's Tencent and Japan's Sony as a major gaming company.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.