According to Bloomberg, Microsoft is preparing to fight its $69 billion acquisition of gaming company Activision Blizzard.
Microsoft has reportedly not yet provided the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with a proposed resolution to the potential antitrust charges/investigation; the FTC has also not yet stated whether it intends to block Microsoft’s merger deal; but antitrust enforcement authorities in both the European Union and the United Kingdom have expressed concern about Microsoft’s deal.
Microsoft is prepared to fight the deal if the FTC files a lawsuit to try to block Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of gaming company Activision Blizzard, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The Xbox maker has not yet discussed with the FTC remedies to get the deal approved or how to concede, said the person, who asked not to be named. The person familiar with the matter also said the FTC staff investigation is nearing completion and is expected to make a recommendation on the deal soon, and then will vote on whether to file a case.
If the FTC tries to block the acquisition, Microsoft will reportedly be prepared to defend it in court.
Bloomberg antitrust analyst Jennifer Rie said she wouldn’t be surprised if the FTC filed a lawsuit, but she also noted that it would be difficult for enforcers to win the case and that Microsoft would probably win.
Microsoft Xbox announced in January that it was spending $68.7 billion (about 489.831 billion yuan) to buy gaming giant Activision Blizzard, a deal that is currently under investigation by major regulators and has recently been approved by several of them, such as Serbia, Saudi Arabia and Brazil.
But so far, regulators in at least three countries have raised questions about the deal, the U.S. being one of them. In addition to that, the United Kingdom and the European Union are also investigating the deal.
The major regulatory reviewers believe that the deal will have a great impact on the landscape of the post-apocalyptic gaming industry and that if the acquisition is completed Microsoft will then leap to become the third largest player in the global gaming market, behind Tencent and Sony.
