Microsoft is reportedly expecting the UK's regulator to stand against its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, although it expects that the European Commission will be open to "potential remedies".
Just last week, Bloomberg reported that, while the EU was almost ready to settle over Microsoft's merger with Activision Blizzard, the FTC filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block the deal for long enough to put off the EU from settling. It seems that it didn't need to do that, however, as Microsoft is reportedly expecting the UK's regulator to oppose the merger.
As reported by VGC, The New York Times's latest piece on the Activision Blizzard deal suggests that Microsoft's legal team "expects the antitrust authority in Britain to oppose the transaction". That being said, Microsoft reportedly believes that the European Commission is open to "potential remedies", at least according to four anonymous people who were asked about the matter. Some of those four people said that Microsoft was reportedly hoping to convince Britain and the European Union to "accept its concessions" and say ultimately yes to the deal.
The report says, "Microsoft’s legal team also expects the antitrust authority in Britain to oppose the transaction, while it believes the European Commission is open to potential remedies, according to four people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly."
Britain and the European Union accepting the deal would seemingly make it easier for an agreement to be reached with the FTC before the trial is supposed to start later this year. If all of those involved accept the compromises then it won't look "weak on Big Tech", although The New York Times warns that any of the three agencies could also put pressure on others to oppose the merger, just like the FTC has been doing with the EU.
Previously, Microsoft's defence against the FTC was to claim that its attempts to stop the merger were violating the constitution, although it has since walked back those comments. Although Microsoft has been fighting against the FTC for some time now, it reportedly isn't looking to settle the lawsuit.
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