Microsoft Appeals UK Decision in Activision Blizzard Acquisition

One month after the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) stunned the world by blocking Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the software giant has appealed the decision.

“We can confirm we have filed our appeal,” a Microsoft spokesperson said, adding that the software giant had filed its suit against the CMA with the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal. The judicial review process could take up to 9 months to complete, though Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said recently that he expects the case to be fast-tracked.

“I think we and Microsoft and our barristers, who are exceptionally experienced at judicial review, think that there’s a way to accelerate the process, and that the conclusions were so flawed, that we should be able to get an accelerated result,” he told CNBC last month.

The UK CMA is one of only two regulatory bodies that is trying to block the $69 billion deal: The US Federal Trade Commission also filed a misguided lawsuit to block the acquisition in December. Microsoft is appealing that decision too. 10 other regulatory bodies, including those in the EU, China, and Japan, have all approved the deal.