‘Microsoft wants to postpone deadline for Activision Blizzard acquisition’

Microsoft wants to postpone the deadline for the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, according to Reuters sources. That deadline, which is part of the deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, expires on Tuesday, July 18. After Tuesday, one of the two could abandon the takeover.

In Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the two companies agreed in the contract that the acquisition would be completed on or before July 18, 2023. If this deadline is not met, Microsoft will have to pay a termination fee of three billion dollars to the game maker. Microsoft or Activision Blizzard can also decide to abandon the acquisition after this end date, without either company having to pay an additional fine, for example.

Reuters sources say that Microsoft wants to move that end date to a later moment. It is not clear when and under what conditions. Microsoft probably does not expect the acquisition to be completed on Tuesday, July 18, and has therefore started discussions with Activision Blizzard. The two companies are said to still be in negotiations.

Only the British regulator CMA has yet blocked the takeover. Microsoft recently indicated that it wanted to amend the deal to address the CMA’s concerns. Microsoft may want to sell its cloud gaming rights in the UK. The CMA is concerned that the acquisition could hinder competition in the cloud gaming market. The supervisor would like to indicate no later than August 29 whether Microsoft’s concessions go far enough and whether the takeover can go through or not. Apart from the CMA, the American regulator the FTC also wants to stop the takeover, but the takeover has no longer been blocked since last weekend.