US FTC sets date for internal arguments on Microsoft deal to buy Activision (updated)

Activision Blizzard

27/09/2023 20:10

(Adds comments from Microsoft, FTC; context regarding Europe
after paragraph 2, byline)
    By Diane Bartz
       WASHINGTON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade
Commission set a date on Wednesday for its internal judge to
hear its arguments on why Microsoft  MSFT.O  should not be
allowed to buy games maker Activision Blizzard  ATVI.O  for $69
billion.
    The case is set to be heard 20 days after an appeals court
rules on whether the deal may go forward. The FTC had fought the
deal in district court but lost and appealed.
        While the U.S. challenge continues, most of the
antitrust focus has been on London, where Britain's Competition
and Markets Authority, which had balked at approving the deal,
said this month that Activision's offer to sell its streaming
rights to Ubisoft Entertainment  UBIP.PA  "substantially
addresses previous concerns."
  
        Microsoft said it continued to plan to close the
transaction on Oct. 18. "We have full confidence in our case and
the deal's benefits to gamers and competition," a Microsoft
spokesperson said by email.
  
        The FTC said in a statement it continued to believe that
the deal was "a threat to competition" and so was putting the
matter on its calendar. "Our current focus is on the federal
appeal process," spokesperson Victoria Graham said in an email.
  

 (Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by David Holmes and Richard
Chang)
 ((Diane.Bartz@thomsonreuters.com))