The UK regulator’s Microsoft-Activision Blizzard red light will be hard to reverse

MLex Market Insight

Microsoft has lashed out at the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority over its decision to veto the software giant’s $69 billion acquisition of gaming company Activision Blizzard. Microsoft President Brad Smith called the decision “the darkest day of our four decades in Britain,” warning that the regulator’s red light had shaken the company’s confidence about doing business in the UK. On this week’s podcast, MLex’s M&A team examines the fallout of the CMA’s decision and what it means for the prospects of the global deal.