UK’s Competition Tribunal Grants Adjournment on Microsoft-Activision Deal

In London, the Competition Appeal Tribunal has granted a joint adjournment application requested by the CMA and Microsoft. The purpose of the adjournment is for Microsoft’s plan to acquire Activision Blizzard.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is awaiting a revised deal structure from Microsoft. The U.S. software giant hopes this modification will improve its chances of regulatory approval from the UK authorities for the acquisition of Activision, known for “Call of Duty”.

Consequently, the CMA extended the final deadline for the deal to August 29. In collaboration, both parties sought permission from the CAT to pause the appeals process. The CAT agreed, as stated on Friday.

The CMA initially rejected the $69 billion deal in April due to concerns about its potential impact on competition in the cloud gaming market. However, negotiations for the deal have since resumed.

Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Alistair Smout and Louise Heavens.