UK CMA Backtracks Again, Speeds Toward Microsoft/Activision Blizzard Approval

Less than one hour after Microsoft’s legal victory against the U.S Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Friday, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) backtracked again and said that it could approve the software giant’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard more quickly than previously expected. This means that Microsoft could now acquire the gaming firm with the CMA’s approval within a few weeks.

“The Inquiry Group aims to discharge its duty as soon as possible and in advance of [the original August 29 date],” a CMA statement reads. Separately, the CMA said that a “detailed and complex submission” from Microsoft, which contains concessions aimed at appeasing the regulatory body, triggered the revised timetable.

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been approved by antitrust regulators around the world, with only the FTC and CMA choosing to block the deal, both for nonsensical reasons. But the CMA has seemed confused and adrift since the FTC’s legal challenges crumbled in the face of judicial review, leaving it the one regulatory holdout on the planet.

As I’m sure you know, Microsoft defeated the FTC last Tuesday, paving the way for its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. That day, the CMA said that it had agreed to renegotiate its decision against Microsoft, though it later backtracked a bit by claiming that this would require a lengthy new investigation.

But then the FTC appealed its U.S. verdict, filing an emergency motion to halt the transaction, and so the CMA issued a statement explaining that it could reevaluate its previous decision without a new investigation but would need until August 29 to do so. One day later, however, the FTC lost again, with a federal appeals court denying the FTC motion. And now we have a new about-face from the UK regulators: the CMA will issue a new decision as soon as possible, most likely within a few weeks.

This new decision will still miss the July 18 deadline to which Microsoft and Activision had previously agreed. But given the timing, it’s clear that both parties will simply extend their deadline to accommodate the suddenly pliable CMA. And that Microsoft will announce its acquisition of Activision Blizzard as soon as the CMA issues its revised decision.