Update 8pm: Adds Microsoft comment to NYT on UK antitrust review.Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) dropped 5% on a report that Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) expects the UK’s antitrust authority may oppose its $69 billion videogame megadeal.
Microsoft’s (MSFT) legal team expects the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority will oppose its planned purchase of Activision (ATVI), according to a New York Times report on Saturday, which cited four people familiar with the matter. The European Commission may be amenable to potential remedies.
The NYT updated its story later on Monday to include that Microsoft (MSFT) said it believes it has a strong case in the UK and it has not been “predetermined,” nor been advised by its lawyers that the merger will be blocked.
Earlier this month the UK antitrust watchdog’s review of the transaction was extended to late April from early March. The UK’S CMA in September confirmed it was taking a deeper look at the Activision deal after Microsoft failed to assuage concerns about potential anticompetitive effects.