A lot has been said and written about the $69 billion megadeal, with UK regulator CMA stating that the deal might lead to competition concerns. Microsoft has since said that these concerns are misplaced. Earlier this month, some insiders also expressed their concerns about the deal as they believe that it could actually fall apart. In addition, a new report from Politico claims that the FTC is eying an antitrust suit to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Following the publication of this report, Microsoft issued a statement by stating that the company is willing to address the ongoing concerns of regulators. “Microsoft is prepared to address the concerns of regulators, including the FTC, and Sony to ensure the deal closes with confidence", Microsoft spokesperson David Cuddy said. “We’ll still trail Sony and Tencent in the market after the deal closes, and together Activision and Xbox will benefit gamers and developers and make the industry more competitive.” Fast forward a few days and we now have an Activision-Blizzard executive adding fuel to the fire by stating that Activision-Blizzard is willing to fight to defend the merger. In addition, Meservey said that any suggestion that the deal could have anticompetitive effects is ridiculous. “Seeing a lot of speculation about Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard”, Meservey wrote on Twitter. “Any suggestion that the transaction could have anticompetitive effects is absurd”, This merger will benefit gamers and the US gaming industry — especially as we face stiffer competition from abroad.” She added, “We’re committed to continuing to work cooperatively with regulators around the globe to allow the transaction to proceed, but won’t hesitate to fight to defend the transaction if that’s needed.” Strong words from the executive and we’re pretty sure that this won’t be the last thing that we’ll be hearing about the proposed acquisition.
