Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it would be acquiring Call of Duty and Diablo publisher Activision Blizzard for almost $70 billion. The historic purchase has been met with a few raised eyebrows, particularly for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which launched its own investigation shortly after. However, it looks like the FTC may come to a verdict on the acquisition as soon as next month.
According to Seeking Alpha, Microsoft has now provided the FTC with the necessary information it requested back in March as it continued to review the proposed acquisition deal. FTC’s own guidance states that the body now has 30 days to challenge the acquisition. If it is not challenged, the deal may continue and be approved entirely.
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The FTC guidelines also state that both parties need to provide the required information in order for the deal to continue. With Microsoft’s information finally provided, all that’s needed is for Activision to play its part and provide the information too before the 30 days can begin. “Typically, once both companies have substantially complied with the Second Request, the agency has an additional 30 days to review the materials and take action, if necessary,” says the guidance on the process.
However, it’s worth noting that once the FTC has received the necessary information from both parties, they can either close the investigation and let the acquisition proceed unchallenged; negotiate with both companies to add some agreed rules in order to ensure that the market stays competitive; and finally, stop the deal altogether for a preliminary injunction in federal court.
Unfortunately, even if the FTC approves of the deal, the acquisition is also still being investigated by UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The CMA has set a deadline of 1 September to decide if the deal should continue, but if it chooses to not approve of it, the acquisition might not go forward.
Source: Seeking Alpha
