Stock Markets React After U.K. Blocks Microsoft’s Activision Bid
Much of the focus around whether the deal would harm consumers had focused on the market for expensive gaming consoles, but the Competition and Markets Authority zeroed in on cloud gaming, a relatively new technology that allows people to stream games to their devices, circumventing the need for hardware like gaming consoles.
The ruling was an indication that regulators around the world are broadening their antitrust lens to include emerging markets and are intent on helping to shape them before a handful of giant companies can dominate them. A failure to gain approval in a large market like Britain or the United States could force Microsoft to walk away from the acquisition, even though another regulatory body in the European Union has not made a final decision.
Lina Khan, the F.T.C. chair, has made challenging mergers a central part of her plan to rein in the tech giants. After the American agency filed a lawsuit in December to block the video game deal, Microsoft swiftly tried to isolate Ms. Khan by pushing European authorities to reach legal settlements that would address their concerns and allow the deal to go through. Antitrust regulators in the European Union are expected to rule on the acquisition by May 22.
But the British officials instead signaled that an era of easy blockbuster tech deals was over. The F.T.C. is building an antitrust case against Amazon, and Ms. Khan has said she is closely watching whether the tech giants will abuse their power in the race to develop artificial intelligence tools.
On Wednesday, the F.T.C. said it was aligned with the British regulator. “We also have concerns, as explained in our complaint, about the anticompetitive effects of this deal,” Holly Vedova, the director of the agency’s Bureau of Competition, said in a statement.
Source: The New York Times
