Microsoft Reportedly Plans To Close Activision Deal Next Week
Bringing to end an obstacle filled, 20-month ordeal.
Nearly two years after announcing its intent to buy Activision Blizzard, Microsoft may finally be coming to a close on the deal. The company is reportedly eyeing a closing date of October 13 for the $68.7 billion USD sale, sources close to the matter told The Verge.
Over the past year especially, the tech industry has bore witness to the countless hurdles Microsoft has faced in its acquisition of Activision. After receiving preliminary approval from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last month, the US governing body, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), stepped in to block the deal once again.
The FTC determined that the buyout could only proceed if Microsoft sold off Activision’s cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft in order to avoid giving the company a monopoly over the cloud gaming industry.
Microsoft agreed to those terms but now, is waiting for word from the CMA on whether it can proceed. The UK authority will be making its official decision today, October 6, and announcing it next week. The buyout is expected to go down almost immediately after.
In other tech news, Meta could soon offer an ad-free subscription service.
