The UK CMA reopens its consultation on Microsoft's Activision deal, an unusual move that could lead to a reversal of the decision to block the deal
Cristina Criddle / Financial Times :
Context & Ripple Effects
The CMA had blocked Microsoft’s proposed $68.7B acquisition over UK gaming-market competition and innovation concerns, while Microsoft prepared an appeal. The regulator had subsequently said it would consider a restructured transaction rather than simply accept new remedies, creating the procedural opening for this consultation. The CMA’s earlier block of the $68.7B deal made the UK the pivotal remaining regulatory obstacle.
Reopening consultation is therefore consequential not merely as a delay, but as a possible route from litigation toward a revised assessment of the transaction. It tests whether a redesigned proposal can resolve the concerns that supported the original decision.
First-order effects
- Microsoft and Activision regain a live regulatory path to UK clearance, though the original block remains the baseline until the CMA changes its decision.
- The CMA must reassess the consultation record and any restructuring put forward by Microsoft, shifting the immediate focus from appeal arguments to remedies and deal design.
Second-order effects
- A viable UK remedy would pressure the parties to make the transaction structure and any relevant rights commitments sufficiently durable for regulatory scrutiny, rather than relying on broad assurances.
- The process reinforces that an outcome in other jurisdictions does not settle a global gaming transaction when the UK regulator identifies distinct competition concerns; dealmakers must plan for jurisdiction-specific restructuring.
Third-order effects
- If this approach becomes repeatable, large technology acquisitions may increasingly be resolved through redesigned transactions after an initial challenge, making remedy architecture a central part of merger strategy.
- The case also points to a more influential post-Brexit CMA in cross-border technology consolidation, although the eventual decision will determine whether reopening consultation represents flexibility or an exceptional fact pattern. The CMA’s later role as the deal’s outlier regulator underscores that leverage.
The trend: This is one data point in the rise of remedy-led, jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction antitrust oversight for major technology acquisitions.