Back in January of 2022, Microsoft announced its plans to acquire Activation Blizzard in a transaction valued at $68.7 billion – the largest deal in the gaming industry. The deal didn’t exactly go as planned with regulators from the US, the EU and the UK objecting to the takeover. Microsoft managed to win a court […]
Read MoreWhat you need to know UK regulatory authority the CMA granted Microsoft approval to purchase Activision Blizzard. This comes after months after the CMA initially blocked Microsoft from acquiring the publisher of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. Microsoft restructured the deal to sell off Activision Blizzard Cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft, assuaging the […]
Read MoreWhat you need to know Intel has canceled its purchase of Tower Semiconductor. The deal was first announced in February 2022, but it ran into regulatory issues that prevented it from going through. Following two extensions to buy time to get the deal approved by Chinese regulators, Intel and Tower have come to a mutual […]
Read MoreMicrosoft is trying to buy Activision-Blizzard-King for $69 billion dollars. The acquisition of the Call of Duty maker would keep Microsoft and Xbox in the gaming industry, which has been gradually slipping away from it owing to competition from mobile devices, and Sony’s dominating market position. Microsoft defeated the FTC’s application for an injunction in […]
Read MoreWhat you need to know In January of 2022 Microsoft announced a deal to purchase Activision Blizzard King, publishers of titles like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush, for a record setting $68.7 billion. For the deal to close, it needs global approval from national regulatory boards and committees. The US’s Federal […]
Read MoreThe UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has ruled against Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition deal of Blizzard Entertainment. As per the CMA, the potential deal for Blizzard Entertainment would make Microsoft a dominant player in the cloud gaming sphere while in turn stifling competition and leaving UK gamers with less choice in the years to […]
Read MoreThe U.K.’s antitrust regulator has announced it will block Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard over concerns the deal would be anticompetitive in the cloud gaming market. In a press release announcing the block, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had prevented Microsoft’s proposed purchase of Activision over concerns the deal would lead to […]
Read MoreGermany’s Bundeskartellamt antitrust authority today announced that Apple is subject to “extended abuse control” under the German Competition Act, which means that German regulators can prevent the company from engaging in “anti-competitive practices.” Bundeskartellamt president Andreas Mundt said that Apple’s economic position is not adequately controlled by competition, giving German authorities the right to step […]
Read MoreWhat you need to know Microsoft is attempting to purchase Activision-Blizzard for a massive $69 billion dollars. The transaction for the Call of Duty maker has been under heavy scrutiny with regulators across the globe. Another potential hurdle has been cleared, with Japan’s Fair Trade Commission tentatively ruling in favor of the deal. Japan is […]
Read MoreWhat you need to know Microsoft is currently in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard for almost $69 billion. The deal is facing regulatory scrutiny around the world, particularly from the CMA in the U.K, the FTC in the U.S, and the European Commission. The CMA previously indicated in its provisional findings that Microsoft could […]
Read MoreMicrosoft’s acquisition of Activision has been a hot topic for the last year or so, but regulatory hurdles are still preventing the two companies from finalizing the deal worth $68.7 billion, which is the biggest takeover in tech history. The latest regulatory body to express its concerns is the British Competition and Markets Authority. Analysts […]
Read MoreWhat you need to know The UK Competition and Markets Authority shared its provisional findings from its investigation of Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard. The CMA found that the deal “raises concerns about cloud and console gaming.” Microsoft could stifle competition in cloud gaming by acquiring Activision Blizzard, according to the CMA. The UK Competition […]
Read MoreAfter years of discussions with local authorities, Apple Pay in South Korea has been approved by the financial regulator, paving the way for the mobile payment system to launch in the first half of this year (via The Korea Herald). “Having taken into consideration relevant rules and regulations and their interpretations, we confirm that credit […]
Read MoreThis is the story that simply won’t go away. Microsoft’s blockbuster acquisition of Activision-Blizzard continues, with the latest drama revealing how aggressive Microsoft is willing to be to force the deal through. In preliminary hearings with the US regulatory body (via Destin), the FTC has revealed that Microsoft is ready to close the deal without […]
Read MoreWhat you need to know The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority recently sought feedback on Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard. Around 75% of participants were in favor of the acquisition, and shared thoughts across a range of topics supporting the deal. The Competition and Markets Authority reviewed 2,100 emails on the merger. Microsoft’s purchase of […]
Read MoreWhat you need to know Microsoft is currently working to acquire Activision Blizzard for almost $69 billion. This deal is being investigated by regulators around the world, including the European Commission. According to a new report from Reuters, Microsoft is offering a “10-year licensing deal” to assuage concerns from the European Commission. Serbia has just […]
Read MoreFollowing a months-long saga, the competition regulator in the Netherlands has finally accepted concessions by Apple to allow dating apps in the App Store to use alternative payment methods (via Reuters). On Friday, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) released an update stating that “Apple now complies with the rules” regarding dating apps’ ability […]
Read MoreThe competition regulator in the Netherlands today announced that Apple’s rules surrounding Dutch dating apps remain insufficient. In a statement obtained by journalist Nando Kasteleijn, the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) said that while Apple eliminating its requirement for Dutch dating apps to create a separate app binary in order to accept alternative payments […]
Read MoreA group of UK network operators have formally urged the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to regulate iCloud Private Relay, claiming that Apple’s privacy service is anti-competitive, potentially bad for users, and a threat to national security. In its response to the CMA‘s Interim Report on mobile ecosystems, Mobile UK, a trade association of […]
Read MoreApple has aggressively defended its ecosystem in a newly-published response to the UK’s competition watchdog. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today published Apple’s response to its Interim Report on mobile ecosystems, as well responses from dozens of other companies, including Google, Microsoft, and Epic Games. The detailed 47-page response from Apple aggressively dismissed […]
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