Microsoft-Activision deal in jeopardy as Microsoft faces EU antitrust warning

Citing sources close to the matter, Reuters has reported that Microsoft’s $69 billion offer to acquire “Call of Duty” creator Activision Blizzard is likely to result in an EU antitrust warning, which may add another hurdle to the merger’s completion.

The European Commission is getting ready to send Microsoft a charge sheet outlining its objections to the agreement, which is also known as a statement of objections, said the sources to Reuters.

The EU antitrust authority, which has given itself until April 11 to make a verdict on the transaction, chose not to comment.

From Microsoft: “In order to resolve any market concerns, we are continuing to cooperate with the European Commission. We want to make more games available to more people, and this agreement will help us do that.”

To help it better compete with market giants Tencent and Sony, the American software behemoth and manufacturer of the Xbox announced the acquisition in January of last year.

Regulators in the US and the UK have raised objections, and the US Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit to stop the merger.

According to further people with knowledge of the situation who spoke to Reuters in November, Microsoft was anticipated to provide EU authorities solutions in an effort to avoid a statement of charge and speed up the regulatory procedure.

Despite ongoing informal conversations on concessions, the persons said the EU competition enforcer is not anticipated to be amenable to remedies before releasing its charge sheet.

Microsoft said it was open to a similar arrangement with Sony, which opposes the purchase when it announced last month that it had secured a 10-year agreement with Nintendo to make “Call of Duty” accessible on Nintendo devices.

Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Serbia have all given the transaction their blessings without any restrictions.