ATVI - Microsoft's $69B purchase of Activision gets European Union approval

2023-05-15 10:39:45 ET

• Microsoft's ( NASDAQ: MSFT ) planned $69 billion acquisition of Activision ( NASDAQ: ATVI ) received antitrust approval from European regulators. Activision rose 0.7%.
• The European Commission agreed to approve the videogame megadeal after Microsoft ( MSFT ) agree to allow rivals to offer titles such as "Call of Duty" on their cloud gaming platforms, the regulator said in a statement.
• “These commitments fully address the competition concerns identified by the commission,” the EU regulators said in a statement.
• The EU approval comes after the UK's antitrust authority moved to block the combination last month , citing concerns about cloud gaming. While the European approval is important, the decision to block in the UK is viewed by some as the likely end of the road for the deal. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission also sued to block the deal in December, with a trial scheduled to start in August.
• Activision ( ATVI ) CEO Bobby Kotick late last month said that the UK antitrust regulator 's decision to block the videogame giant's sale to Microsoft ( MSFT ) was a "flawed ruling in every respect."
• Developing story ...

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