Microsoft is currently trying to appeal a recent CMA decision that blocked the IT titan’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. However, if the appeal to the UK competition and market authority fails, Microsoft could wait another decade before it can attempt to acquire the publisher Call of Duty again.
The CMA’s decision and its aftermath were the subject of a massive ResetEra thread, which also notes that under section 11.29 of the final report, normal practice would be to prevent the merger for ten coming years.
Specifically, the article says: “The ban would be affected by the acceptance of undertakings under section 82 of the act or the adoption of an order under section 84 of the act, prohibiting the merger and preventing the parties from attempt to merge for a further period: our usual practice would be to prevent a future merger between the parties for the next ten years, unless circumstances change.”
This means that Microsoft is much more confident in the appeal than we initially thought, and that the settlement is in much greater jeopardy if this appeal fails.
Do you think the deal is dead and will remain so for at least a decade?