With the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) having blocked Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, whether or the deal will be able to go through has become increasingly unclear, even with Microsoft appealing the CMA’s decision. Of course, the company’s proposed deal is under investigation from other regulatory authorities around the world as well, and it seems one of those ongoing investigations will be ending with an approval soon.
As per a report published by Reuters, the European Commission is set to approve Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard next week, most likely on May 15. It’s been claimed that Microsoft’s numerous licensing deals with the likes of Nvidia and other cloud streaming platforms tipped the balance in the company’s favour.
The EU regulator had previously set a deadline for its final decision for May 22, and interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time that reports have claimed the Commission is likely to approve the deal.
Then again, it’s worth noting that it wasn’t long before the CMA blocked the deal that it was claimed in reports that it would be doing the exact opposite.
Meanwhile, the proposed Activision Blizzard acquisition has also faced stiff resistance from US regulators, with the Federal Trade Commission having filed an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft in an attempt to block the deal.
It was recently confirmed that if the deal falls through, Microsoft will still have to pay Activision Blizzard breakup fee of $3 billion.