MSFT - Activision CEO Bobby Kotick says UK will be Death Valley if Microsoft deal blocked

Activision Blizzard ( NASDAQ: ATVI ) CEO Bobby Kotick said that he thinks that the UK will become Death Valley if its antitrust agency moves to block Microsoft's ( NASDAQ: MSFT ) planned $69 billion acquisition of the videogame maker.

Kotick explained that UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that the country would like to become the Silicon Valley of Europe.

"If a deal like this can't get through, they are not going to be Silicon Valley, they will be Death Valley," Kotick said in an interview on CNBC on Tuesday.

Kotick's comments come as the UK's antitrust regulator this week is expected to give its provisional findings on the transaction .

Activision shares fell almost 5% Monday after a New York Times report raised concern that UK regulators may be ready to oppose the deal, though Microsoft said it said it believes it has a strong case in the UK and it has not "predetermined," nor been advised by its lawyers that the merger will be blocked.

Kotick still said he believes that the Activision ( ATVI ) deal will ultimately get done.

"I think there's no legitimitely good reason why we shouldn't have the opportunity to compete against Japanese and Chinese companies and I think regulators in the EU, the UK and the US will recognize that Western companies need to be able to compete," Kotick said.

Activision ( ATVI ) shares rose 4.6% on Tuesday following Kotick's comment and after the vdeogame publisher reported strong growth in bookings in its Q4 results.

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