Microsoft ‘willing to address concerns’ to save $69bn deal

Bloomberg

Microsoft Corp. headed into a showdown with European Union antitrust watchdogs by insisting its $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard Inc. will “bring more competition” for gamers but pledging to show willingness to address antitrust concerns.
“I think we’ll make clear that our acquisition of Activision Blizzard will bring more games to more people on more devices and platforms than ever before,” Microsoft President Brad Smith told reporters ahead a closed-door hearing in Brussels.
“We’re more than willing, given our strategy, to address the concerns that others have, whether it’s by contracts, like we did with Nintendo this morning, or whether it’s by regulatory undertakings, as we’ve consistently been open to addressing,” Smith said. He was referring to the signing of a 10-year agreement with Nintendo that “will bring Call of Duty to Nintendo devices.” Microsoft last year already publicly offered to give other rival Sony Group Corp. a similar license for the blockbuster game.
The EU hearing, with dozens of lawyers, officials and rivals, comes just two weeks after Britain’s merger regulator provisionally found that the deal could substantially harm competition in gaming consoles and cloud gaming services in the country. That raised questions about the viability of the transaction that’s also under attack in the US over fears Microsoft could make it harder for rival platforms to access Activision’s most popular titles.