Microsoft and Activision delay their merger 3 months, until October 18

The company Microsoft and the video game company Activision Blizzard have announced this Wednesday that they are delaying the merger operation (through which Microsoft absorbs Activision) for a period of 3 months, until October 18.

The delay became known when Activision communicated this Wednesday -the scheduled date to formalize that purchase- its quarterly results, in which they insisted that they continue “focused on long-term opportunities” that lie ahead upon completing their merger with Microsoft.

But before the delay, Activision announced that it was canceling the post-results conference, where more details of the reason for the delay could have been known, foreseeably linked to the resolution of possible lawsuits in the United States and the United Kingdom, according to specialized media.

On July 10, a federal judge in California (United States) gave the green light to the disputed purchase that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC, for its acronym in English) had tried to stop. The judge Jacqueline Scott Corleywhich temporarily paralyzed the agreement last month, listened to the parties for five days and this Wednesday rejected a motion from the FTC to cautiously stop the purchase.

In the 53-page decision, Corley indicated that the FTC has not convincingly demonstrated that such a transaction will harm competition, whereas the parties have instead provided evidence that it will be beneficial to consumers.

Microsoft announced in February 2022 the purchase of Activision for almost US$ 69,000 million, in what would be the largest acquisition of the technology giant and the largest operation of its kind in the video game sector.

But the FTC filed a lawsuit in December, saying the deal would allow Microsoft reduce competition in the video game sector by going on to control important franchises developed by Activision like “Warcraft”, “Call of Duty” or “Candy Crush”.

Although the FTC has lost this battle, the operation still has obstacles, since the regulator can appeal this decision -something that it has already suggested that it will do- and, apart, Microsoft has yet to resolve the purchase block in the United Kingdom.

Source: EFE