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Microsoft / Activision Deal Approval Watch |OT| (MS/ABK close)

Do you believe the deal will be approved?


  • Total voters
    886
  • Poll closed .
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Cracking Up Lol GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon


Per the sec filing all it takes is one of them to block the deal. That's what Microsoft and ABK agreed on.

I don't see why 2 v 2 matters with this agreement.
 
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Thirty7ven

Banned
I hope they get what they want, their fans really really need this. If MS can’t get past the CMA/FTC I fear it will be the type of blow Xbox won’t ever recover and their fans who placed their whole identity on this thing going through will leave the system en masse.

Let’s do it. For sanity sakes.
 
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Edmund

Member
I hope they get what they want, their fans really really need this. If MS can’t get past the CMA/FTC I fear it will be the type of blow Xbox won’t ever recover and their fans who placed their whole identity on this thing going through will leave the system en masse.

Let’s do it. For sanity sakes.

Nah don't worry about them. They have that Microsoft warchest or something. They'll be fine.

People like Senjustu though, they might have to be admitted to an asylum.
 

Bernoulli

M2 slut
I hope they get what they want, their fans really really need this. If MS can’t get past the CMA/FTC I fear it will be the type of blow Xbox won’t ever recover and their fans who placed their whole identity on this thing going through will leave the system en masse.

Let’s do it. For sanity sakes.
If this go through Microsoft can buy the entire industry
 

splattered

Member
I think the FTC is the one really crapping on big corporations. I've said time and time again that I think the FTC is nothing but a speedbump in this thing and CMA is the only real key. When I read Lina Khan saying that their goal isn't necessarily to win these cases but to push the envelope on antitrust law then I became highly dismissive of FTC's efforts. Seems to me she is making enough noise to get in front of cameras, but that's about it. That's just my opinion, but I will not be shocked if the admin law judge promptly rules against her this fall.

I get what you are saying about the "other countries", but at the same time, FTC, CMA, EC, etc. should NOT be in the position of simply going along with the rest of the world. Each regulatory body should be held to the standards of their respective country or countries. And acquisitions this big need to beheld to a damn high standard, imo, and that's exactly what I think is happening.

Very fair, but at the same time should a deal be outright blocked in full for the entire world if a single regulator body decides against it? Right now that's how it's worded in the contractual agreement between MS and Activision but i really feel like if the rest of the world gets behind them they are going to find a way to push this forward without CMA's approval whether they like it or not. I would not be surprised at all to see them go back to the table and renegotiate this deal to get is pushed through without going through the entire process again. It's what they both want, they will find a way.
 

graywolf323

Member
Very fair, but at the same time should a deal be outright blocked in full for the entire world if a single regulator body decides against it? Right now that's how it's worded in the contractual agreement between MS and Activision but i really feel like if the rest of the world gets behind them they are going to find a way to push this forward without CMA's approval whether they like it or not. I would not be surprised at all to see them go back to the table and renegotiate this deal to get is pushed through without going through the entire process again. It's what they both want, they will find a way.
ask Microsoft and Activision why they made the deal hinge on it then
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
I think the FTC is the one really crapping on big corporations. I've said time and time again that I think the FTC is nothing but a speedbump in this thing and CMA is the only real key. When I read Lina Khan saying that their goal isn't necessarily to win these cases but to push the envelope on antitrust law then I became highly dismissive of FTC's efforts. Seems to me she is making enough noise to get in front of cameras, but that's about it. That's just my opinion, but I will not be shocked if the admin law judge promptly rules against her this fall.

I get what you are saying about the "other countries", but at the same time, FTC, CMA, EC, etc. should NOT be in the position of simply going along with the rest of the world. Each regulatory body should be held to the standards of their respective country or countries. And acquisitions this big need to beheld to a damn high standard, imo, and that's exactly what I think is happening.
The FTC is nothing more than a taxpayer money-sink grift, setup to nudge corporations into more lobbying efforts of key establishment players.

It should be operating like the CMA, but there's no money in that. ;)
 
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Topher

Gold Member
Very fair, but at the same time should a deal be outright blocked in full for the entire world if a single regulator body decides against it? Right now that's how it's worded in the contractual agreement between MS and Activision but i really feel like if the rest of the world gets behind them they are going to find a way to push this forward without CMA's approval whether they like it or not. I would not be surprised at all to see them go back to the table and renegotiate this deal to get is pushed through without going through the entire process again. It's what they both want, they will find a way.

How? By vacating the UK? Microsoft is not above the law and while they operate in the UK, they are subject to UK laws. So how is this "pushed through" outside of leaving the country? Don't tell me you think that's on the table.

The FTC is nothing more than a taxpayer money-sink grift, setup to nudge corporations into more lobbying efforts of key establishment players.

It should be operating like the CMA, but there's no money in that. ;)

We saw American "democracy" at work with Senators writing letters to Japanese representatives. Once the CMA threw out consoles, those Senators suddenly shut up. Almost as if they were acting under orders.

Will Smith Reaction GIF
 
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Pelta88

Member
Ahhhh so you believe Sony getting what they wanted was the correct outcome and what was fair for UK gamers. got it.

What I find interesting is that you've framed this as Sony VS Microsoft. The problem here is that anyone who has paid even a slight amount of attention to this acquisition knows that there are a multitude of companies that are

A. Against the deal
B. Presented their case to CMA, EU, and FTC Regulators

You reveal too much via the focus you place on Sony and because of that, you're clearly missing the bigger picture.
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
What's interesting, is that you've framed this as Sony VS Microsoft. The problem here is that anyone who has paid even a slight amount of attention to this acquisition knows that there are a multitude of companies that are

A. Against the deal
B. Presented their case to CMA, EU, and FTC Regulators

You reveal too much via the focus you place on Sony and because of that, you're clearly missing the bigger picture.
He's lost in the twittard and MS BS "totally not a console war company" PR sauce.

This has nothing to do with Sony. MS screwed themselves with their cloud chest pumping for well over a decade, and cloud/infrastructure bragging of "reaching 3 billion gamers" and "Sony/Nintendo not our competitors but Google and Amazon are," as soon as they announced this deal.

Then Google told the CMA that they had to foreclose Stadia due to MS buying Bethesda. So that leaves just Amazon and a handful of micro services (nobody ever heard of) to steamroll over when they take away Activision and 100% of the revenue for their "10 year deals" that was supposed to be a victory for Romania Ukraine.
 
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jm89

Member
Very fair, but at the same time should a deal be outright blocked in full for the entire world if a single regulator body decides against it? Right now that's how it's worded in the contractual agreement between MS and Activision but i really feel like if the rest of the world gets behind them they are going to find a way to push this forward without CMA's approval whether they like it or not. I would not be surprised at all to see them go back to the table and renegotiate this deal to get is pushed through without going through the entire process again. It's what they both want, they will find a way.
CMA have killed big deals between american companies. They've doubled down on their stance on twitter and in the hearing and have now started the final process of closing the case. We know where their head is at and it is full speed ahead blocking this.

Not only that we have guys like jeremy hunt in top level of the uk government actually making it clear that competition is more important then letting big deals through, he even mentioned specifically the tech sector. He even mentioned about the importance of the CMA being an independent body. That is all your getting from the top level of the uk government, i'm sure they very well know the consequences of a political intevention and that is destroying the UKs regulatory process.

We also have a merger and acquisition lawyer in the UK who has experience with the CMA over at era telling the nutters why a CAT appeal will unlikeley be successfull, nobody will engage him cause they know it won't go very well for them.
 
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GHG

Member
CMA…

Season 1 Episode 3 GIF by Game of Thrones


I need to stop giving Microsoft ideas

IE is still a problem in many an organisation anyway (including government).

When Microsoft said "developers, developers, developers" They actually meant "dependancies, dependancies, dependancies".
 

sainraja

Member
How? By vacating the UK? Microsoft is not above the law and while they operate in the UK, they are subject to UK laws. So how is this "pushed through" outside of leaving the country? Don't tell me you think that's on the table.



We saw American "democracy" at work with Senators writing letters to Japanese representatives. Once the CMA threw out consoles, those Senators suddenly shut up. Almost as if they were acting under orders.

Will Smith Reaction GIF
I mean, anything can happen at this point but some of these people are bordering on the crazy simply because they really, really, want this deal to go through.
 
I mean, anything can happen at this point but some of these people are bordering on the crazy simply because they really, really, want this deal to go through.

That is definitely true. I haven't seen so many crazy claims in a while. It's pretty insane that some think that Microsoft will destroy Xbox just to make this deal go through.
 

Varteras

Gold Member

BREAKING: The LCC (Lunar Competition Commission), has passed Microsoft's proposed acquisition of ABK. An asteroid was the only dissenting voice. Lulu and Bobby will be live from Oceanus Procellarum, the largest lunar sea, to share their elation on how the 1-person body, led by Brad Smith, historically agreed to the acquisition. All 3 lunar residents have expressed immense satisfaction! NOTE: Response delays of 24 minutes possible. Please clear your day.
 

azertydu91

Hard to Kill
Try this it's called Otacos , meat or chicken with sauce, fries and cheese sauce
JXCUouo.jpg
I think Otacos is a chain of restaurant, I often saw them being called french tacos but I am not sure it is the correct term.But I know that if you go to ay Kebab place in France and ask for a tacos you'll get that....It's great when they don't put too much cheese sauce.
 

splattered

Member
CMA have killed big deals between american companies. They've doubled down on their stance on twitter and in the hearing and have now started the final process of closing the case. We know where their head is at and it is full speed ahead blocking this.

Not only that we have guys like jeremy hunt in top level of the uk government actually making it clear that competition is more important then letting big deals through, he even mentioned specifically the tech sector. He even mentioned about the importance of the CMA being an independent body. That is all your getting from the top level of the uk government, i'm sure they very well know the consequences of a political intevention and that is destroying the UKs regulatory process.

We also have a merger and acquisition lawyer in the UK who has experience with the CMA over at era telling the nutters why a CAT appeal will unlikeley be successfull, nobody will engage him cause they know it won't go very well for them.
And what will be your stance if this deal still passes in one form or another?
 

jm89

Member
And what will be your stance if this deal still passes in one form or another?
Depends on the reason why it would be approved. If it's approved because of political pressure then the UKs regulatory process in it's current form is dead. Big tech have been given the path now to use political pressure on any deals. Regulation worldwide becomes a joke.

If it genuinely goes through because an appeal was successful and CMA agree to let it thorough because they agree they where wrong and there is evidence for that, then fair play it was approved on legitimate means. Although I wouldn't agree with the decison as i don't like this level of consolidation.
 
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splattered

Member
Depends on the reason why it would be approved. If it's approved because of political pressure then the UKs regulatory process in it's current form is dead. Big tech have been given the path now to use political pressure on any deals. Regulation worldwide becomes a joke.

If it genuinely goes through because an appeal was successful and CMA agree to let it thorough because they agree they where wrong, then fair play it was approved on legitimate means.

Right on, that's the way it should be :)
 
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