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As regulators in the United Kingdom continue to probe Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard (ATVI), Microsoft (MSFT) Chief Executive Satya Nadella remains confident that the $69B deal will get approved.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Nadella acknowledged that deals of the size of Microsoft’s (MSFT) will always get a fair amount of regulatory scrutiny, but he said that he was “very, very confident that we’ll come out” with a successful acquistion.
Microsoft (MSFT) originally said it would buy Activision on January 18, and that it could take a year for the deal to be finalized. It is Microsoft’s (MSFT) largest-ever acquisition.
Nadella told Bloomberg that Microsoft (MSFT) is either the No. 4 or No. 5. competitor in the videogame market. Nadella also noted that as the No. 1 player, Sony (SONY), has done several recent acquisitions, then Microsoft (MSFT) should be given the green light for its Activision (ATVI) buy.
“So if this is about competition, let us have competition,” Nadella said.
If Microsoft (MSFT) succeeds in acquiring Activision (ATVI), it will bring in house a slate of popular gaming titles such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Guitar Hero.
In early September, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority launched a long-term review of Microsoft’s (MSFT) deal for Activision (ATVI) on the grounds that it could reduce competition in areas such as game consoles, cloud-based gaming and gaming subscriptions.
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