The Federal Trade Commission is likely to file suit to block Microsoft’s $69-billion takeover bid for Activision Blizzard, Politico reported.
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Britain’s competition regulator said it will refer Microsoft’s acquisition of the Call of Duty maker for an in-depth investigation.
Gaming companies are facing a slowdown in demand for videogames from pandemic highs, raising doubts about their ability to weather a downturn.
Wall Street is betting that US antitrust enforcers could unravel one of the largest mergers in American history.
Activision Blizzard will delay a Call of Duty game that had been planned for next year, the first time the franchise will be without an annual mainline release in nearly two decades.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway acquired nearly $1-billion of shares in Activision Blizzard just before Microsoft agreed to buy the videogame maker.
A whopping $600-billion of cash stashed at mega-cap technology companies could drive a wave of deal-making in the sector.
Sony Interactive Entertainment will acquire Bungie in a deal valued at $3.6-billion, making it the latest in a wave of consolidations sweeping the gaming sector.
A couple of high-profile takeovers of videogame companies has stirred optimism that acquisitions will help technology stocks recover. That sentiment may be premature.
Microsoft’s pitch, as with its other large gaming deals, heavily leveraged gaming chief Phil Spencer’s decades-long industry experience.