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ARTICLE · 19 JUNE 2023

The US Federal Trade Commission Blocks Microsoft/Activision Deal

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The reader will recall that in April I drafted a note on the UK CMA decision to block the Microsoft takeover of Activision. About a month later, in May 2023, the EU Competition authorities took a different view...

GlobalAntitrust/Competition Law
Jonathan Compton
Jonathan Compton

The reader will recall that in April I drafted a note on the UK CMA decision to block the Microsoft takeover of Activision. About a month later, in May 2023, the EU Competition authorities took a different view and permitted the takeover with conditions.

The deal is calculated at USD69Bn.

On 12 June, the USFTC sought a temporary injunction to block the takeover. In its filing, the USFTC said the two Corporations had 'signalled' the deal could be executed as soon as this coming Friday (16 June).

The filing continued that, unless the court intervened, the deal would produce a corporation that had the 'ability and increased incentive to withhold and degrade Activision's content in ways that substantially lessen competition'.

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