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Microsoft To Lodge Appeal Against UK’s Activision Buy Block Soon

By  |  May 8, 2023

Microsoft has hired lawyer Daniel Beard KC to try to overturn the UK regulator, Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), decision to block Microsoft’s $67.8 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. He has been able to defeat the EU regulator on multiple occasions.

Microsoft, along with Beard are preparing to “lodge an appeal at the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in the coming days,” according to Yahoo! Finance. The appeal with CAT is expected to take several months.

Read more: Ukraine Latest To Approve Microsoft/Activision Deal

Beard is a “leading competition barrister” and in the past has “overturned multi-billion dollar penalties levied on Apple and Intel by the EU.” He already worked with Microsoft in the late stages of hearing with the CMA, before the regulator blocked the deal last month.

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is facing issues with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), who filed an antitrust lawsuit in December of last year. The deal has been approved in the Ukraine, South Africa, Japan, Chile, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Serbia.