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The saga of Microsoft’s multi-billion-pound takeover of Call Of Duty maker Activision Blizzard has taken another twist.
US anti-trust watchdogs argued in a California court yesterday that a previous ruling by a federal judge in July that the £60billion merger was legal under competition law was incorrect.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit in December 2022 claiming the takeover would allow Microsoft to suppress competition by taking ownership of Activision’s library of popular games.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) initially blocked the deal in April in the UK citing fears it could stifle the gaming market.
But the tech giant later came back with a revised offer which was passed by the regulator in October.
The FTC is expected to argue that the judge who made the original ruling in the US held the agency to an excessively high standard, requiring it to prove the deal was anti-competitive rather than simply that it raised serious concerns about competition.
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