Microsoft, CMA ask UK court for pause to consider activision tweaks

By Katharine Gemmell

Microsoft Corp. kicked off its hotly-anticipated court hearing with the UK antitrust agency Monday as it moves closer to sealing the $69 billion Activision Blizzard Inc. deal.
 

A UK judge at London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal is set to consider whether Microsoft’s proposed restructuring of the biggest gaming deal offers a way to sidestep the UK’s veto decision. In an unprecedented move, the CMA has agreed to give Microsoft a second chance to tweak the deal to allay its competition concerns.

Both the Competition and Markets Authority and Microsoft are seeking to suspend a legal challenge to the veto decision at the tribunal. The companies are considering giving up some control of their cloud-gaming business in the UK as a way to clinch the deal, Bloomberg has reported.

“The application is intended to allow the CMA and the parties to engage swiftly and constructively in relation to Microsoft’s proposals,” lawyers for the regulator said in written arguments for the hearing.

The CMA is the only regulator that’s standing in the way of Microsoft getting the deal over the finish line after a week of drama that saw the Federal Trade Commission lose a US court battle and a truce with rival Sony Group Corp. to license Call of Duty franchise for 10 years. The tribunal now needs to agree to halt its proceedings which will allow talks between the parties to formally begin. 

Meanwhile, in a procedural move that nonetheless adds further momentum to pushing the deal through, the CMA said Friday it had extended its deadline for issuing a final order on the deal until Aug. 29.