2023-04-26 12:49:02
Well, nothing, today is going to give a lot to talk regarding, and that is, to recap, the CMA of the United Kingdom has decided to block the purchase of Activision Blizzard King by Microsoft. I do not want to give you a summary of the same thing once more, so I leave you everything you need to know in this same link, well explained and placed in chronological order.
This hard blow is not only painful for Microsoft, but also for Activision itself, which He has seen how part of his plans have gone to waste before a decision little or nothing developed by the British organization. So much so, that the company’s Lulu Cheng CCO has publicly announced that they will speak with Microsoft in the appeal and that they will review their growth plans in the country.
Today’s CMA report is a major setback to the UK’s ambitions to be a technology hub, and we will work with Microsoft to reverse it on appeal.
This report also hurts UK citizens, who are facing increasingly dire economic prospects, and we will have to reassess our UK growth strategy.
Global innovators big and small will note that for all their rhetoric, the UK is on lockdown.
Activision: This decision stops investment in the United Kingdom
Internal emails from Bobby Kotick himself have also begun to run from the company, who has addressed his employees to convey encouragement. In fact, this veto puts the British Government itself on the ropes, which had plans to be a country focused on technology and innovative at the same time.
So it seems that the strategy of the appeal is going to go along that line, in that of take advantage of the fact that the United Kingdom wants to grow technologically while its economy weakens. Let’s not forget that the UK is one of the European countries where more video game studios are having their headquarters; Microsoft has some like Playground Games, itself. This is the email that the CEO of Activision has sent to his employees:
Team Today, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), a regulatory agency in the UK, decided not to approve our merger with Microsoft. This isn’t the news we wanted, but it’s far from the last word on this deal. Together with Microsoft, we can and will challenge this decision, and we have already begun work to appeal to the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal. We are confident in our case because the facts are on our side: this deal is good for competition.
The UK hopes to increase its leadership position in technology, and a Microsoft-Activision combination would do just that. At a time when the fields of machine learning and artificial intelligence are thriving, we know that the UK market would benefit from Microsoft’s strength in both domains, as well as our ability to put those technologies to use immediately. On the contrary, if the CMA decision stands, it would stifle investment, competition and job creation throughout the UK gambling industry.
As I said before, it doesn’t look like the appeal is going to be a bed of roses, but if both companies know which door to knock on, they might have a chance.
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