We finally heard about Microsoft’s attempted takeover of Activision Blizzard yesterday, and it wasn’t good news, as the CMA tentatively found that the takeover “could lead to higher prices, fewer options or less innovation for UK “players”.
However, shortly after the CMA released its interim findings, Wedbush Securities analysts Nick McKay and Michael Pachter wrote a note to investors saying they believed the deal would close no later than mid -may.
Here’s what they had to say, courtesy of GamesIndustry.biz:
“We read today’s statement as a sign that the UK knows it has a losing legal case. In our view, the FTC discovered this late last year and moved quickly to take legal action to block the merger in hopes of being the first to win concessions.” We believe the AMC came to the same conclusion in its review and expedited its formal objection to the settlement and offered solutions to go to the FTC for bragging rights.
The FTC has yet to offer any solutions, and the CMA, by listing binding structural solutions, has positioned itself as the ‘dragonslayer’ in this action.”
The “structural remedies” the two analysts are referring to here were revealed by the CMA yesterday, suggesting that Microsoft could seek to remove Call of Duty from the deal, or even cut the Activision part and simply leave Blizzard.
Instead, Microsoft is believed to agree to a set of behavioral fixes, potentially including the 10-year Call of Duty offer to Sony, Nintendo, and Steam that was not considered in the CMA report. yesterday.
Regarding the US FTC (Federal Trade Commission), we obviously know that a lawsuit has been filed against the acquisition, but we have not had any major developments on this subject in recent weeks. Meanwhile, the European Commission is also conducting a thorough investigation into the acquisition, so many hurdles remain for Microsoft to overcome.
However, these analysts believe that the deal could close very soon.
“We expect Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision to close no later than mid-May.”
Do you think the deal will close? Will this happen in mid-May? Let us know in the comments below.