Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard has been halted and if the deal is not closed, the Xbox company would have to pay a considerable amount of money to the parents of Call of Duty and many other sagas.
More than a year has passed since the announcement of the purchase of Activision Blizzard at the hands of Microsoft and despite the fact that everything seemed positive after a long time, right now, the deal is at its worst due to the CMA.
The UK regulatory body has halted the purchase of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, which has left a great unknown about the fate of this million-dollar acquisition. And now what’s gonna happen?
Well, the truth is that there are a few doubts, but it is known that if the agreement fails, Microsoft will have to continue loosening the portfolio no matter what. In the event that this union is not consummated, those from Redmond must enter something like compensation to Activision Blizzard.
How much money are we talking about? Well, the truth is that the company would still have to pay Activision Blizzard a not inconsiderable amount, specifically, 3,000 million dollars for breaking this link.
While it is true that this is a figure clearly lower than the total purchase of 69 billion, this would mean an extra setback for Microsoft. Of course, neither party wants this result. This was hinted at by Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision, in an interview with CNBC.
Well, I think our first approach is to try to close the deal, which I think is in the interest of the industry, and in the interest of the competition. If it didn’t get done, you know, by the end of the year, I think we’d have something like 18 billion in cash. And I think if you look at our 30-year history, we have deployed capital very well for the benefit of our shareholders and we will continue to do so.
When we say that there is no small amount it is because 3 billion is more or less half of what Microsoft paid for Bethesda a few years ago, another of the studio’s titanic purchases in recent times.
Do you think the purchase will finally be formalized? The bump that is going to jump now is important and could make the entire legal process of the agreement take much longer than expected.
Regarding this matter of the CMA, the body has revealed that Microsoft would not have been able to add Call of Duty to Xbox Game Pass until 2025; at the earliest and it has also been stated that Game Pass would end up rising in price.
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