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☆ What’s Next for Microsoft, Activision After U.K. Rejects Deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Sarah E. Needleman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Photo: Jae C. Hong/Associated PressMicrosoft Corp. faces a sudden challenge to its videogaming ambitions after the U.K. rejected the Xbox maker’s proposed $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc., a regulatory blow that antitrust lawyers say will be hard to overcome. Microsoft has been pushing to get approvals for the deal—which would be its biggest ever—for more than a year, in part to help it gain an edge in the nascent market for cloud gaming, the Netflix-like streaming of games, and in its mobile gaming business.

regulators reached out to their European Union counterparts, according to emails that were obtained through a Freedom of Information request. That April, the Europeans asserted jurisdiction using a novel theory, asserting that the combination would stifle innovation in the E.U. claims that conforming to the European financial regulations — rules based on directives of the European Parliament and intended to drive social objectives — is a laudable goal. The Federal Reserve and other financial regulators face virtually constant pressure from members of Congress and international bodies to import similar, sweeping E.U. If these were isolated examples of abdication of regulatory authority to Europe, we might shrug it off.

☆ Watch CNBC's full interview with Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWatch CNBC's full interview with Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby KotickActivision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the fallout from the Microsoft-Activision merger ruling, whether he was surprised by the CMA decision, and what the company plans to do next.

☆ The UK blocked Microsoft's Activision deal. Here's what it means for U.S. regulators
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority's decision to block Microsoft's proposed acquisition of "Call of Duty" maker Activision means the U.S. does not need to stand alone in its challenge of the massive $69 billion deal. In the latest hurdle for the deal, the CMA argued the acquisition threatens to hurt competition in the nascent cloud gaming market. But it did not challenge potential competition concerns in console gaming, after saying last month that evidence from industry participants convinced the agency that the transaction wouldn't harm competition in that particular market. The FTC claimed the proposed acquisition would likely reduce competition or create monopolies in markets for gaming subscription services, cloud gaming and high-performance consoles. WATCH: Microsoft-Activision deal collapse a 'discouraging' move for Big Tech, says former FTC commissioner

☆ Activision Blizzard CEO on blocked merger: It was a flawed ruling in every respect
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailActivision Blizzard CEO on blocked merger: It was a flawed ruling in every respectActivision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the fallout from the Microsoft-Activision merger ruling, whether he was surprised by the CMA decision, and what the company plans to do next.

☆ Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Meta, Amazon, Ford, Activision Blizzard & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Here are Thursday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Bernstein reiterates Apple as market perform Bernstein said it remains "torn" on Apple heading into earnings next week. Morgan Stanley reiterates Meta as overweight Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the AI beneficiary to $300 per share from $250 after the company's earnings report Wednesday. " Morgan Stanley reiterates Ford as overweight Morgan Stanley said it's standing by its overweight rating heading into earnings next week. Citi reiterates Amazon as buy Citi said it's bullish on the e-commerce giant heading into earnings on Thursday after the bell. Morgan Stanley reiterates Nvidia as overweight Morgan Stanley said the stock is one of the firm's top picks heading into earnings in May.

☆ UK watchdog defends Microsoft block in face of onslaught from companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the deal on Wednesday, saying it could hit competition in the nascent cloud gaming market. Microsoft's president Brad Smith said the decision "had shaken confidence in the UK tech industry" and was "probably the darkest day in our four decades in Britain". "There's a clear message here - the European Union is a more attractive place to start a business than the United Kingdom," he added. "That's important for UK consumers and UK business and it's those UK consumers and UK businesses that the CMA is here to protect," she told BBC radio. She said Britain had not acted alone, noting that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission was also suing to block the deal.

☆ Activision should focus on its 'core IP,' says Jefferies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailActivision should focus on its 'core IP,' says JefferiesAtul Goyal of the investment bank discusses the outlook for Activision and Microsoft's $68.7 billion deal to buy the U.S. video game company.

The risks of doing dealsA British regulator’s decision to reject Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover bid for Activision Blizzard stunned many who had expected the deal to go through. That’s especially because moves this month by the agency, the Competition and Markets Authority, suggested that the transaction might pass muster. Though it narrowed the scope of its Activision deal inquiry to just one issue, cloud gaming, the C.M.A. The tribunal that will weigh Microsoft’s appeal will examine mainly whether the regulator followed proper procedure. That institutional advantage positions the agency as one of the world’s most influential antitrust enforcers, alongside those in the United States and the European Union.

☆ As Regulators Block Tech Deals, They Increasingly Look to the Future
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( David Mccabe | Kellen Browning | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As companies like Google and Facebook grew into giants in the early 21st century, regulators chose largely not to interfere in the still-young market for online services. Now regulators have reversed course: When it comes to tech, they want to see into the future and beat companies to getting there. The decision by the British authorities on Wednesday to block Microsoft’s $69 billion bid for the video game giant Activision Blizzard exemplified the new approach. British officials said a core reason for rejecting the deal was how it could threaten competition in the nascent market for cloud gaming, which lets users stream their favorite video game titles. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which last year sued to block Microsoft’s deal for Activision, also raised concerns about competition in cloud gaming, though the agency focused mostly on the impact to the traditional console games business.

☆ Barclays says there's a big buying opportunity in Activision Blizzard after blocked Microsoft deal, sees shares rallying 30%
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Activision Blizzard's recent tumult could be a buying opportunity for investors, according to Barclays. Regulators in the UK blocked Microsoft's attempt to purchase the company over competition concerns. ATVI YTD mountain Activision Blizzard could be a buying opportunity for investors despite the fallout of Microsoft deal. Lu said the move to stop the Microsoft deal was somewhat surprising, given that regulators seemingly eased up on concerns over the takeover at the end of March. Activision executives told investors the UK's Competition and Markets Authority was "disproportionate, irrational and inconsistent."

☆ FTC chair met UK antitrust officials last week but did not talk deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Graeme Jennings/Pool via REUTERSWASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) - Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan met with the heads of other antitrust enforcers, including Britain's, last week but no mergers were discussed, according to an FTC official who spoke amid allegations the FTC and UK are working together to block Microsoft's bid for Activision. The FTC official, speaking on Thursday, was responding to comments made by the game-maker's CEO, Bobby Kotick, who told CNBC he believed that the U.S. agency had pushed Britain's CMA to stop the planned acquisition. Kotick said: "I was surprised to learn that Lina Khan and the head of the CMA had a meeting a week and a half ago in Washington. The FTC official, who was not authorized to speak on the record but who was present at the virtual meeting, said that officials had no discussions of any mergers being reviewed or other ongoing investigations. When a deal appears blatantly anticompetitive then independent antitrust regulators can simply make their own judgments," said spokesperson Douglas Farrar.

☆ Morning Bid: Fresh spur from Meta and Europe's banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Perhaps even more surprising, Europe's big banks are wowing the gallery too - showing limited, if any, fallout from the failure of ailing Credit Suisse at the end of the quarter. And so the glass appears half full again despite background tensions around regional U.S. banks and as wider markets brace for several weeks of a U.S. debt ceiling standoff. With Amazon reporting later, its stock rose another 2% ahead of the bell too. The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday narrowly passed a bill to raise the government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling that includes sweeping spending cuts over the next decade. The dollar was marginally weaker, with crude oil prices struggling to recover from their latest lunge lower this week.

☆ This video game stock could struggle after the blocking of Microsoft's Activision Blizzard takeover, BMO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

BMO Capital Markets thinks Electronic Arts could be negatively impacted from the blocking of the Microsoft - Activision Blizzard deal. The firm downgraded EA stock to market perform from outperform Thursday. But BMO says because the UK Competition and Markets Authority's stopped Microsoft's takeover attempt of Activision Blizzard , the failure will be a cautionary tale for company's seeking large deals in the space. EA YTD mountain Shares of Electronic Arts could face more pressure after the fallout of the takeover deal from Microsoft of Activision Blizzard. However, the regulatory body did stipulate that Microsoft could make Activision games exclusive to cloud gaming platform Xbox Game Pass.

Microsoft shares rallied 7.2% following upbeat quarterly earnings and sales, including of robust artificial intelligence products. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 228.96 points, or 0.68%, to 33,301.87; and the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 15.64 points, or 0.38%, at 4,055.99. The S&P 500 technology index (.SPLRCT) was the sole gainer among the benchmark's 11 major industry sectors, adding 1.7%. Of the 163 S&P 500 companies that reported first-quarter profit through Wednesday morning, 79.8% topped analysts' expectations, as per Refinitiv IBES data. It helped push the S&P 500 bank index (.SPXBK) down 1.4% on the day.

☆ Microsoft Has Game With or Without Activision
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Microsoft’s $75 billion deal to buy Activision was rejected by the U.K.’s antitrust watchdog. Photo: pau barrena/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesMicrosoft will be just fine without Activision Blizzard , though its cloud gaming ambitions might not be. The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority rejected Microsoft’s $75 billion deal to buy Activision on Wednesday morning. The agency, which is the country’s main antitrust watchdog, ruled that the deal would ultimately harm the nascent market for cloud-based videogame services by giving the owner of the Xbox platform control over Activision’s popular game franchises such as “Call of Duty.” In its statement, the CMA said Microsoft “would find it commercially beneficial to make Activision’s games exclusive to its own cloud gaming service,” thus stifling future competition.

☆ Cloud, not consoles, blocks Microsoft's Activision view in UK
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - For all the thunder about Xbox versus PlayStation, it was the nascent cloud market that led to Britain's surprise decision to block Microsoft's record Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) takeover. That only answered the CMA's console concerns, leaving cloud gaming as the only remaining - and apparently lower - hurdle. Defining cloud gaming is not simple. The CMA disagreed, saying that cloud was the most rapidly growing sector in gaming, while consoles were a mature market. It said Microsoft already accounted for 60-70% of global cloud gaming services and had other trump cards: Xbox, the leading PC operating system Windows and cloud provider Azure.

☆ UK blocks Microsoft's $69 bln Activision deal over cloud gaming concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The country's antitrust regulator said on Wednesday that Microsoft's commitment to offer access to Activision's multi-billion dollar "Call of Duty" franchise to leading cloud gaming platforms would not effectively remedy its concerns. The gaming company also reported quarterly results on Wednesday, a day earlier than scheduled, beating quarterly bookings estimates although that seemed to do little to allay investor concerns about Britain's move. Europe will decide on the Activision deal by May 22. The CMA said the cloud gaming market was forecast to be worth 11 billion pounds ($13.7 billion) globally by 2026. The CMA said Microsoft had an estimated 60%-70% of global cloud gaming services as well as competitive advantages including owning Xbox, PC operating system Windows and cloud provider Azure.

SummarySummary Companies Microsoft up as quarterly results top estimatesAlphabet gains on buyback plans, ad sales beatActivision Blizzard down as UK blocks Microsoft dealIndexes: Dow slips 0.01%, S&P up 0.30%, Nasdaq climbs 1.23%April 26 (Reuters) - The tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced on Wednesday as strong results from Microsoft and Alphabet offset concerns over rising interest rates and their effect on the U.S. economy. Earnings forecasts have improved, with analysts expecting a 3.2% contraction in first-quarter profit for S&P 500 companies compared with a 5.2% decline estimated at the start of the earnings season. Of the 163 S&P 500 companies that reported first-quarter profit through Wednesday, 79.8% topped analysts' expectations, as per Refinitiv IBES data. PacWest Bancorp (PACW.O) gained 14.2% as the regional lender beat estimates for first-quarter profit and managed to stabilize deposit outflows. The S&P index recorded five new 52-week highs and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 42 new highs and 300 new lows.

☆ Activision Blizzard reports quarterly bookings above estimates
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 26 (Reuters) - Videogame publisher Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) on Wednesday reported first-quarter bookings of $1.86 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.79 billion, according to Refinitiv. Earlier in the day, Britain said it would block Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of the "Call of Duty" maker over its concerns it would hinder competition in cloud gaming, dealing an unexpected blow to the biggest-ever deal in gaming. Microsoft has announced its decision to appeal the CMA’s ruling, and Activision Blizzard intends to fully support Microsoft's efforts on this appeal, the videogame publisher said. Activision's shares fell about 10% in early trading. Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb ChakrabartyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Microsoft’s $75 Billion Deal for Activision Blizzard Rejected By U.K.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Kim Mackrael | Sarah E. Needleman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) climbed 8.2% in premarket trading after it beat estimates for quarterly results, and said that artificial intelligence products were stimulating sales. Earnings forecasts have improved, with analysts expecting a 3.9% contraction in first-quarter profit for S&P 500 companies compared with a 5.2% decline estimated at the beginning of the earnings season. Of the 124 S&P 500 companies that reported first-quarter profit through Tuesday, 79% topped analysts' expectations, as per Refinitiv IBES data. Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) is scheduled to report results after market close on Wednesday. ET, Dow e-minis were up 62 points, or 0.18%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 11.5 points, or 0.28%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 139.75 points, or 1.09%.

☆ UK blocks Microsoft $69 bln Activision deal over cloud gaming concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The country's antitrust regulator said on Wednesday that Microsoft's commitment to offer access to Activision's multi-billion dollar "Call of Duty" franchise to leading cloud gaming platforms would not effectively remedy its concerns. Microsoft announced its Activision bid in January 2022 to boost its firepower in a video gaming market led by Tencent (0700.HK) and Sony (6758.T). Europe will decide on the Activision deal by May 22. The CMA said the cloud gaming market was forecast to be worth 11 billion pounds ($13.7 billion) globally by 2026. The CMA said Microsoft had an estimated 60%-70% of global cloud gaming services as well as competitive advantages including owning Xbox, PC operating system Windows and cloud provider Azure.

☆ Microsoft’s $75 Billion Deal for Activision Blizzard in Peril
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Kim Mackrael | Sarah E. Needleman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Photo: Jae C. Hong/Associated PressThe U.K.’s antitrust watchdog rejected Microsoft Corp.’s $75 billion deal to buy game maker Activision Blizzard Inc., raising a high hurdle in the software giant’s attempt to win global approval of the deal. The Competition and Markets Authority’s ruling, issued Wednesday, said Microsoft had failed to convince it that undertakings it had proposed since announcing the deal would sufficiently ease the regulator’s competition worries. The CMA has said the deal poses a competition threat to the U.K.’s gaming industry and has been reviewing it for months.

☆ Microsoft’s $75 Billion Deal for Activision Blizzard Rejected by U.K.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Kim Mackrael | Sarah E. Needleman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

An image released by Activision Blizzard shows a scene from the ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’ videogame. Photo: ActivisionThe U.K.’s antitrust watchdog rejected Microsoft Corp.’s $75 billion deal to buy game maker Activision Blizzard Inc., raising a high hurdle in the software giant’s attempt to win global approval of the deal. The Competition and Markets Authority’s ruling, issued Wednesday, said Microsoft had failed to convince it that undertakings it had proposed since announcing the deal would sufficiently ease the regulator’s competition worries. The CMA has said the deal poses a competition threat to the U.K.’s gaming industry and has been reviewing it for months.

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