A catchphrase, to be truly such, must possess at least two characteristics.
First, it must last an apparently infinite time. Furthermore, once it seems concluded, a piece of news must intervene which has the potential to reverse the situation and guarantee new life to the catchphrase itself.
Given these two characteristics, we can certainly define catchphrase the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard affair.
As recently as yesterday, Wednesday, July 11, we told you in an article that Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley dismissed the FTC’s concerns. And she then gave the green light to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft. We will return to the matter.
But here’s what a few hours after the (final) verdict on the matter, the FTC declared its willingness to appeal. Let’s see what happened.
The FTC will appeal
Already in the statements released immediately after the verdict that made the Microsoft-Activision operation possible, the FTC had hinted that there could be further developments.
Douglas Farr, a spokesman for the agency, said: “We are disappointed with this outcome given the clear threat this merger poses to free competition in cloud gaming. In the coming days, we will announce our next moves in this battle to ensure competition and protect consumers.”
And here they are, the feared moves: the FTC will appeal.
Tight times
However, times are very tight, and gravitate around two dates close to us. The FTC is seeking an extension of the current restraining order on the acquisition, which will end at 8:59 am ET on Saturday, July 15. Then at 11.59pm (local time) on Friday July 14th.
With the extension, the FTC could cancel the finalization of the deal within the deadline agreed by Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, and set for Tuesday, July 18.
However, these choked times leave two doubts. The first is, of course, whether the FTC’s request will be granted. But even if so, will the Court of Appeal rule in the necessary time?
What happened before
FTC is the abbreviation for Federal Trade Commission. That is the US government agency that promotes consumer protection, and the elimination and prevention of anti-competitive business practices.
The agency has filed a temporary restraining order in the California court on the Microsoft-Activision deal. The restraining order would remain in effect until the court ruled on the preliminary injunction requested by the American authorities against the operation.
The FTC feared the deal would hurt consumers because it would severely limit competition.
Ma now the court has pronounced, rejected the doubts of the FTC and given the green light (with final verdict) to the maxi deal worth 69 million dollars. And the FTC, which didn’t give up, appealed.
The statements
As you can imagine, the reactions to the FTC’s statement to appeal were very different from the enthusiastic ones released yesterday after the judge’s ok.
Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, said, “The District Court ruling makes it unequivocal that this acquisition is good for both competition and consumers.
We are disappointed that the FTC continues to pursue what has become a glaringly weak position and will oppose further attempts to delay the possibility of moving forward.”
And Lulu Cheng Meservey, CCO and EVO of corporate affairs at Activision Blizzard, added: “The facts have not changed. We are confident that the United States will remain among the 39 countries where the merger can be completed. We look forward to demonstrating the robustness of our case again in court.”
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The CMA’s no
The second obstacle to the Microsoft-Activision deal is the CMA.
The Competition and Markets Authority, the British antitrust, had expressed a negative opinion on the operation in May. In the case of the CMA, the concerns are related to the fact that a monopoly situation could arise in the cloud gaming sector.
Ma it seems that in recent days Microsoft has started new negotiations with the British antitrust, to re-evaluate its verdict. And the antitrust response is marked by dialogue: “The CMA regulator stands ready to consider any proposal from Microsoft to reshape the terms of the settlement in a manner that overcomes the concerns set out in our final report.”