Microsoft Reportedly Removing Activision Blizzard From UK to Fight Acquisition Roadblock

Microsoft Corporation is reportedly planning to pull out Activision Blizzard from the United Kingdom, which has previously blocked its acquisition deal with the Santa Monica, California-headquartered video game holding company.

Moreover, Microsoft may take the step of withdrawing Activision Blizzard from the UK market to have an alternative route since the European region rejected their merger bid in April. Now, to resolve the matter and talk about other subjects, it was reported that the tech company’s president, Brad Smith, has arranged a meeting with the UK Chancellor this month.

Smith hopes to meet with UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt so they can directly discuss the issues with its merger with Activision Blizzard. In the meeting, he will bring up the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) decision to stop its $69 billion acquisition bid.

As per Eurogamer, the president of Microsoft will be in the U.K. for a talk related to regulating artificial intelligence (AI), and he is hoping to have a private talk with Hunt as well. With regards to the reported meeting, the company’s spokesperson commented, "the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard as we remain committed to finding creative and constructive ways to address remaining regulatory concerns."

It was noted that so far, the U.K. is the only country that has blocked the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard merger. The region explained it believes that there are concerns in the booming cloud gaming business and think that the buyout deal will suppress competition in this growing industry.

In response to that, Microsoft said it would file an appeal to overturn CMA's decision. The company said the UK competition watchdog made crucial errors in its review of the deal. The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal already held a case management meeting to clear up the preliminary details of the hearing between the local regulator and Microsoft.

“I think one of the reasons companies like Microsoft and Google want to invest in the UK is because we have independent regulators that are not controlled by politicians and therefore they can be confident that there will be a level playing field,” GamesHub quoted Chancellor Hunt as saying after the release of the decision. “I would not want to undermine that at all, but I do think it’s important all our regulators understand their wider responsibilities for economic growth.”

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