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UK Court Denies CMA’s Request To Delay Activision/Microsoft Trial

By  |  June 29, 2023

The appeal by Microsoft against Britain’s veto of its $69 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard will proceed as scheduled at the end of July, as the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has denied the antitrust regulator’s request for a postponement.

According to Reuters, the Competition and Markets Authority, which had previously prevented the takeover in April, requested for the hearing to be postponed from July 28 to October. This was to allow them additional time to adequately prepare and present their case.

Related: Sony Calls UK’s Reversed Stance On Microsoft Activision Deal ‘Surprising & Irrational’

However, the CAT stated that the CMA did not adequately consider the actual public interest in this case, which is the prompt resolution of Microsoft’s Notice.

The UK regulator’s move to block the merger put it at odds with the European Commission, which announced its approval of the deal back in May. It has also led many to call into question the British regulator’s motives. Many believe that both the FTC and CMA have broader intentions of becoming global leaders in market regulation by taking on “Big Tech”, as suggested by a recent article from Businesscloud.