Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard ushered in the final procedure: meeting with the President of FTC of the United States
According to reports in the morning of December 7, Beijing time, Microsoft executives will meet with FTC Chairman Lina Khan on Wednesday local time to make a final statement on Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
FTC, an important antitrust agency in the United States, is about to make a final decision on the $69 billion deal. If approved, Microsoft will become the third largest gaming company in the world. The FTC committee members will be responsible for deciding and voting on the agency's actions, and the so-called "final ceremony" meetings between them and the companies concerned are often the last step before filing a lawsuit or reaching a settlement.
Brad Smith, Microsoft president, and other company executives are expected to attend the meeting, according to people familiar with the matter.
Spokesmen for FTC and Microsoft declined to comment.
In January, Microsoft announced plans to buy Activision Blizzard, which owns popular games such as call of Duty and World of Warcraft. The acquisition will be the largest acquisition in Microsoft's history and will be one of the 30 largest acquisitions in world business history.
Khan, a former professor at Columbia University Law School, was at the helm of FTC last year. Since taking office, she has taken a more aggressive approach to mergers and acquisitions. At Tuesday's meeting, she declined to comment on Microsoft's deal with Activision Blizzard, citing an ongoing investigation. But she denies that FTC opposes mergers and acquisitions. She also says maintaining innovation in emerging markets is a top priority.
"I think someone misunderstood FTC and thought we seemed to be against the deal." She said. But "when you increase integration, increase concentration, and reduce competition, it has a real negative impact on innovation." "established companies and monopolists will not be encouraged to innovate, nor will they really break the boundaries as they do in the face of fierce competition," she said. "
The deal also needs to be approved by antitrust authorities in the UK and the European Union, all of whom are concerned that Microsoft may restrict the use of popular games on rival systems, particularly Sony's PlayStation.
Margrethe Vestager, vice-president of the European Commission, said on the sidelines of a meeting in Washington on Tuesday that the EU had not yet begun negotiations with Microsoft on possible compensation.
