Topher
Gold Member
That's a good point. And actually, now that I think about it, it would require a stockholder vote as well. So possible, but not probable.
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Microsoft / Activision Deal Approval Watch |OT| (MS/ABK close)
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That's a good point. And actually, now that I think about it, it would require a stockholder vote as well. So possible, but not probable.
DJ12
Member
Would it then need to be resubmitted and go back to square one?
Topher
Gold Member
Anyone who hears someone say Microsoft can move forward with the merger, that is not allowed in the merger agreement as long as the CMA's interim order prohibiting the acquisition is in place.
Conditions to the Closing of the Merger
"the absence of any temporary restraining order, preliminary or permanent injunction or other judgment or order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction or other legal or regulatory restraint or prohibition preventing the consummation of the merger that is in effect, governmental action or statute, rule, regulation or order having been enacted, entered, enforced or deemed applicable to the merger that, in each case, prohibits, makes illegal or enjoins (or seeks to prohibit, make illegal or enjoin) the consummation of the merger or which imposes or seeks to impose a burdensome condition, which we refer to as the “injunction condition”;"
Page 10, third bulleted point
Not so sure about that. Possibly. Not likely to be rewritten either way as
X-Wing
pointed out.
Conditions to the Closing of the Merger
"the absence of any temporary restraining order, preliminary or permanent injunction or other judgment or order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction or other legal or regulatory restraint or prohibition preventing the consummation of the merger that is in effect, governmental action or statute, rule, regulation or order having been enacted, entered, enforced or deemed applicable to the merger that, in each case, prohibits, makes illegal or enjoins (or seeks to prohibit, make illegal or enjoin) the consummation of the merger or which imposes or seeks to impose a burdensome condition, which we refer to as the “injunction condition”;"
Page 10, third bulleted point
Not so sure about that. Possibly. Not likely to be rewritten either way as
X-Wing
pointed out.
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Riky
$MSFT
Microsoft isn't leaving the UK over this. It would be interesting if they removed Xcloud from Gamepass Ultimate in the UK before the appeal though. If that's viable or not I don't know, it can't be very profitable.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
They would have to do a new contract, the time for structural remedies is long past, the decision was made. That also would not be enough; the CMA was strict on them owning the largest publishers and IPs while having said cloud infrastructure, not just in the UK, but as a global corporation which will stifle investment of new startups (in the UK) not having access to such games/IPs.
Topher
Gold Member
Wouldn't make sense to do anything before the appeal. Anything Microsoft does has to be through the CMA process.
Riky
$MSFT
Would make the ground very shaky though, lower the price of Gamepass Ultimate in the UK and remove Xcloud.
Topher
Gold Member
The CAT is only going make rulings based on the merits of the CMA ruling. Microsoft can only reference any grounds in the ruling that they believe are illegal or irrational. What Microsoft does with GPU or xCloud in the UK in the meantime is entirely irrelevant. Doesn't move the ground at all.
Riky
$MSFT
It will if it wins the appeal and it gets referred back to the CMA.
Astray
Member
Assuming a successful appeal, that's at least gonna be a year away. In the meanwhile ATVI and MSFT will have to re-negotiate the merger agreement in July.
Not to mention fighting the FTC.
Topher
Gold Member
If it gets referred back to the CMA then that is the point in which Microsoft will need to offer new remedies, not before.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
As long as the deal isn't 100% done one way or the other, it will absolutely keep going lol.
Riky
$MSFT
Obviously and if Xcloud is removed from Gamepass Ultimate in the UK before we enter that second look then that will change the dynamic, Xcloud is not available in all regions now.
3liteDragon
Member
Desperate times require desperate measures, bro’s gonna fight Jimbo.
Topher
Gold Member
Nah.....this is all in the lawyer's hands now. Anything else is just background noise that the CMA can flatly ignore.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Please let me interrupt this thread with some actual news 
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/GFVDMVTKX5NCFG5L4ABKLGLAQY.jpg)
www.reuters.com
Microsoft defeats gamers' bid to block $69 bln Activision deal in US court
Microsoft Corp evaded a potential early legal obstacle in its $69 billion deal to acquire "Call of Duty" videogame maker Activision Blizzard Inc , when a U.S. judge on Friday refused to allow gamers in a private suit to preliminarily block the acquisition.
www.reuters.com
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Topher
Gold Member
Please let me interrupt this thread with some actual news
Microsoft defeats gamers' bid to block $69 bln Activision deal in US court
Microsoft Corp evaded a potential early legal obstacle in its $69 billion deal to acquire "Call of Duty" videogame maker Activision Blizzard Inc , when a U.S. judge on Friday refused to allow gamers in a private suit to preliminarily block the acquisition.
lol....that whole thing is just a sideshow
Thirty7ven
Banned
After listening to the guy I gotta say he’s actually kid of funny. He’s not a blind fanboy at all, more in on the joke than anything else.
Topher
Gold Member
Yeah, at least he is having fun with this shit and not taking it so seriously.
gothmog
Gold Member
The deal explicitly states that they have to pass UK regulators. Why do that if the UK can't effectively block the deal entirely?
Riky
$MSFT
Wouldn't be so sure, the appeal needs to be won first but I don't see how the CMA could then block the deal if they have to look at it again and Xcloud isn't a thing in the UK anymore. MS just licence streaming to third parties here.
Their jurisdiction only goes so far.
jm89
Member
Yeah he has one of the most watchable gaming streams.
His co host is pretty netruel and brings them down to earth aswell.
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Topher
Gold Member
Microsoft operating in the UK gives CMA all the jurisdiction they need. CMA specifically pointed out the fact that MS licensing cloud games still puts Microsoft in control and so that's a no go.
Riky
$MSFT
Could be that we end up with no cloud gaming option here, would be a bummer but if they dropped the price of Gamepass Ultimate in the UK I'd live with it to get COD on Gamepass.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
It's not just about there (UK), but beyond as well with control of all those IPs. Global markets and all that malarkey.
jm89
Member
One of the UK lawyers who posts on era mentioned allegedly CAT doesn't have to immeditely publish the appeal got made and can do it after, so we may not know immediatley.I got lazy and asked Bing (ChatGPT-4) about the last date for Microsoft to file an appeal on CAT.
Apparently, tomorrow is the last date, and Microsoft still hasn't filed an appeal or filed for an extension.
Thirty7ven
Banned
Don’t think that would work as the CMA will just say they won’t make a decision that limits choice in the UK.
For it to work MS and ABK would have to stop the deal, then MS would close down their cloud gaming solution in the UK, and then do another acquisition attempt, therefore taking the matter off of CMA’s hands. And still I don’t know if that would work or if CMA would just say MS could open their cloud gaming again later and therefore etc etc
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Topher
Gold Member
Looking at previous merger cases on the CMA website, I don't see the appeals at all. The only reference to the appeal is made in the CAT's appeal decision itself. So as far as we know the appeal has already been submitted.
SneakersSO
Member
There very much is such a thing as regulatory avoidance. The CMA can and has cited attempts at this by other Mergers that have hit them. Doing this for xCloud in the UK could very well have the exact opposite effect that they want, with the CMA labelling MS in conducting business in bad faith and seeking to undermine regulatory jurisdiction.
Say if the issues/concerns over the Console SLC were still in place - MS announcing tomorrow that all of Zenimax titles will now publish on PS and Nintendo wouldn't magically just make that go away with the CMA. By doing something now to get approval, you also have given regulators ammo in saying 'They are doing this to avoid regulatory scrutiny, and just as easily as them giving this to get this through, they can take this away once the deal closes'. If its just as simple as pulling support for xCloud in the UK, i'm sure then that MS would love (they would never do this) to sign an agreement saying they will never, in perpetuity, offer xCloud or ATVI titles via xCloud, should the CMA present that as a compromise.
MS would never sign that, btw. Businesses detest limiting their options like this, especially in an ongoing basis.
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jm89
Member
Yeah the torys are putting out fires right now in their own party. Do they really want to go down the path of destroying the regulatory system in the uk while their at it? Which is something that won't go down lightly either if they tried it. There is no indication of pressure anyway, jeremy hunts comments should have made it clear how far the top brass in the uk government are willing to get involved, and that is basically do nothing.
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Unknown Soldier
Member
I don't believe it's illegal for MS to tell their US Senators they need to something about this, so the US sends some aircraft carriers to blockade the UK until the deal is allowed to go through. It would be good practice for our Navy anyways because we'll be fighting a war over another island soon (Taiwan) so it's a win-win for MS and the US Navy!
Do I really need to /s this?
Flutta
Banned
MasterCornholio
Member
Doing that would just send a message to other regulators. That's the issue they have with doing that.
LordCBH
Member
Sleepwalker
Member
Let's not pretend Florian is an idiot, he's actually smart and knows exactly what he's doing. He's just ill intentioned.
Depends if the other regulators view the CMA as rational or not. MS is already planning to bypass the FTC and that's not hurting their reputation.
He literally underlines the portion of the contract that shows exactly what he says. Florian has been right more than most analysts.
Dick Jones
Gold Member
When he consistently deletes tweets when he's caught lying, yeah he is right more often than not after the fact.
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MasterCornholio
Member
They are not going to ignore the FTC. They will go through a legal process to defeat them in court. With the CMA they have the appeal process to go through with the CAT.
It's different than saying they will just cut regulators out of the process. That's something no regulator is going to like seeing.
Pelta88
Member
Next post that references FOSS as some type of authority gets blocked.
People need to stop sucking cope.
PaintTinJr
Member
Please explain what he has underlined,
And then maybe how that in anyway bypasses that the CMA reviewed and blocked this acquisition of their own volition - not because of a SEC filing.
The merger meets the value criteria for the CMA review process, and the UK as country with an unprecedented geo-political relationship with the United States and both the merging companies being well within the CMA's jurisdiction, they have authority over blocking the deal, regardless of what he projects Microsoft can waive.
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dotnotbot
Member
Looking at comments under that tweet it doesn't look like Florian is 100% sure he knows what he's talking about. Those documents aren't easy to interpret, unless an actual lawyer chimes in and confirms what he says (which probably won't happen since his speculations fall into a grey area) I would ignore his "findings".
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Dick Jones
Gold Member
Has Pachter gone into witness protection yet for ruining his clients with ABK investment advice? I haven't seen him since his first interview doing damage limitations after the CMA said no.
feynoob
Member
CMA/UK is Xbox 2nd largest market. They can't waive that.
feynoob
Member
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
6th largest GDP in the world as well.
Varteras
Gold Member
Largest tech sector in Europe. Who else has a rank we can use??
Pelta88
Member
Foss lives in the twilight zone. Everyone knows his musings are utter and complete fantasy but still people are posting him as some type of source. At this point I think it's best to mute those people who insist on showcasing his fanatical fairytales in this thread.
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