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UK Watchdog Ramps Up Big Tech Antitrust Investigations

By  |  July 10, 2022

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is launching dual investigations into Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of videogame maker Activision Blizzard, and Amazon’s competitive practices related to its Marketplace platform.

In January 2022, Microsoft announced it was planning to purchase Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, making it potentially Microsoft’s biggest-ever acquisition at $26 billion more than the company paid for LinkedIn in 2016.

On July 6, 2022, the CMA started inviting views on the deal, with a submission deadline of July 20. The CMA has provisionally set itself a deadline of September 1, when it will either approve the deal or instigate a more in-depth phase two review.

Earlier this month, Linda Khan, chair of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), also confirmed that the agency was “examining effects on competition in all relevant markets for potential law enforcement action.”

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