Microsoft and Activision extend deadline to complete merger

While Microsoft could have completed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard this week after winning its case against the FTC in the US, doing so would have meant closing over the UK's CMA, which did object to the deal back in April. Since then, the CMA has seemingly had a change of heart and is actually willing to allow the deal to go through. In order to allow time for these discussions to take place, the deadline for completing the deal has been extended. 

July 18th was the deadline for completion initially set when Microsoft agreed to acquire Activision Blizzard. Missing that date or failing to complete the deal would have meant a free $3 billion cheque for Activision to cash. However, both parties have agreed on a last-minute extension. Now, Microsoft has until the 18th of October to get everything in order.

While the deadline is now set for October, the deal will likely close much sooner. Microsoft and the CMA jointly argued for a pause of their appeal process at the Competition Appeals Tribunal earlier this week. The two sides now have an extra two months to settle things. However, the CMA has also expressed that it wants to reach its new final decision before the August 29th deadline.

Microsoft offered a new remedy that the CMA was willing to accept. While neither Microsoft nor the CMA have publicly confirmed what that remedy is, rumour has it that Microsoft is going to sell its UK cloud gaming business to another UK company, possibly EE, one of the companies Microsoft signed a deal with to offer Xbox and Activision titles post-merger.

Ultimately, this is the best way to go about things. Microsoft and the CMA now seem to be working in a cooperative manner, rather than an adversarial one, giving both Microsoft and Activision confidence that the deal will be able to close quickly.

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KitGuru Says: Whether you agree with this merger or not, there is no denying that both the FTC and the CMA put forth weak arguments against it in their court cases. The first few days of appeals hearings in the UK were particularly brutal for the CMA and the FTC hearing was even worse, leading to a quick denial of the regulator's injunction request. Microsoft just has to get everything squared away with the CMA now, and it seems both sides are open to working quickly to make that happen. 

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