Timeline: Microsoft-Activision: Ubisoft deal helps win Britain's nod

Activision Blizzard

13/10/2023 07:42

(Recasts paragraph 1 to add details on CMA clearance)
       Oct 13 (Reuters) - 
    Britain's antitrust regulator on Friday 
    cleared
     Microsoft's  MSFT.O  acquisition of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard  ATVI.O  after
the restructured deal substantially addressed its earlier concerns.
  
    In August, Activision agreed to sell its non-European streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment
 UBIP.PA  to get the biggest deal yet in video-gaming past Britain's Competition and Markets
Authority (CMA).
        "We have now crossed the final regulatory hurdle to close this acquisition, which we
believe will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide," Microsoft President Brad Smith
said.
  
        The company had in July extended the deadline to close the deal by Oct. 18.
  
    
    Here is a snapshot of key events in the Microsoft-Activision saga:
    
 Date       Development
 Jan 18,    Microsoft says it is buying Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion
 2022       
 Feb 1,     Bloomberg News reports that FTC would handle the review of the deal
 2022       
 March 21,  FTC has sought additional data from Activision and Microsoft related to the antitrust
 2022       review of their deal, the game developer says
 April 28,  Activision Blizzard shareholders approve Microsoft's proposal to buy the "Call of Duty"
 2022       maker
 July 6,    Britain's antitrust watchdog starts an investigation into the deal
 2022       
 Sept 1,    Britain's antitrust regulator says the deal could harm competition in gaming consoles,
 2022       subscription services and cloud gaming, and it needs to be investigated in depth 
 Sept 7,    Sony Group Corp  6758.T  says the offer by Microsoft to keep the "Call of Duty" series
 2022       on PlayStation for a limited time is "inadequate"
 Sept 15,   Britain's antitrust watchdog says it would launch an in-depth probe into the deal 
 2022       
 Sept 30,   EU antitrust regulators set Nov. 8 deadline to decide on the deal 
 2022       
 Oct 12,    Microsoft says Britain's competition regulator had relied on objections from Sony in
 2022       referring the deal to an in-depth inquiry
 Dec 8,     The Biden administration moves to block Microsoft-Activision deal
 2022       
 Dec 22,    Microsoft says the deal would benefit gamers and gaming companies   
 2022       
 Feb 8,     Britain takes aim at the deal, saying it could harm gamers by weakening the rivalry
 2023       between Xbox and Sony's PlayStation   
 Feb 21,    Microsoft strikes 10-year deal to bring "Call of Duty" and other Activision games to
 2023       Nvidia Corp's  NVDA.O  gaming platform
 March 1,   EU regulators extend the deadline for the deal to April 25
 2023       
 March 8,   Microsoft tells UK it will license "Call of Duty" to Sony for 10 years
 2023       
 March 28,  Japan's antitrust watchdog says the deal will not harm competition
 2023       
 April 26,  UK blocks Microsoft-Activision deal over cloud gaming concerns
 2023       
 May 15,    Microsoft wins EU antitrust approval for the deal 
 2023       
 May 24,    Microsoft appeals against UK block on the deal
 2023       
 June 12,   US FTC asks court to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision
 2023       
 June 13,   A U.S. judge grants FTC's request to temporarily block the acquisition
 2023       
 July 11,   A U.S. judge turns down FTC's request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily stop
 2023       the deal
 July 12,   Britain's antitrust regulator says a restructured deal could satisfy its concerns,
 2023       subject to a new investigation
 July 13,   U.S. FTC asks an appeals court to temporarily stop Microsoft from closing the deal,
 2023       hours after a federal judge rejected a similar request
 July 14,   Britain's antitrust regulator extends its final deadline to Aug. 29 after receiving a
 2023       "detailed and complex" new proposal from Microsoft that claimed material changes in
            circumstance
 July 15,   A U.S. appeals court rejects the FTC's request to pause Microsoft's purchase of
 2023       Activision 
 July 16,   Microsoft signs agreement to keep "Call of Duty" on PlayStation
 2023       
 July 17,   Microsoft's appeal against Britain's block on its takeover of Activision was formally
 2023       paused
 July 19,   Activision, Microsoft extend deal deadline by three months to Oct. 18 to secure UK
 2023       approval; urge U.S. to drop case against deal before internal FTC judge
 July 20,   U.S. FTC official withdraws case against Microsoft-Activision deal before internal
 2023       agency judge
 July 21,   Microsoft-Activision deal back in hands of UK regulator after court pauses appeal
 2023       
 July 31,   UK regulator seeks public input on Microsoft-Activision deal
 2023       
 Aug 22,    Activision will sell its non-European streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment
 2023        UBIP.PA  to get Microsoft deal past British regulators
 Sept 22,   Microsoft's restructured acquisition of Activision "opens the door" to the deal being
 2023       cleared, CMA says. The software giant has offered remedies for "residual concerns" that
            CMA has related to certain provisions of the deal, which the regulator is consulting on
            before arriving at a final decision. 
                        CMA finally 
   Oct 13,              clears
 2023                    the acquisition, saying the restructured deal substantially addressed its
            earlier concerns.
            
 

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 (Reporting by Tiyashi Datta, Jaspreet Singh and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil
D'Silva, Shinjini Ganguli and Varun H K)
 ((tiyashi.datta@thomsonreuters.com;))