The CMA expects comments from the interested parties (Microsoft and Activision Blizzard) by July 20th at the latest. The UK-based authority will decide whether to open a more in-depth Phase 2 investigation on September 1st. To assist it with this assessment, the CMA invites comments on the transaction from any interested party. On the US side, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been reviewing the case at least since early March, when both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard received a request for additional information and documentary material. A few weeks later, we learned of four US senators (Elizabeth Warren - Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders - Vermont, Cory Booker - New Jersey, and Sheldon Whitehouse - Rhode Island) pushing for the FTC to dig deeper into the deal. In June, senator Elizabeth Warren publicly shared her response from FTC chair Lina Khan, a notorious critic of big tech. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of Activision Blizzard shareholders voted in favor of the merger. Two months ago, Microsoft was confident that the acquisition was moving rather quickly considering its size. The company has also recently signed a labor neutrality agreement with the Communications Workers of America, which prompted the CWA to sign a letter backing the deal. I share your concern that monopsony power in labor markets may enable firms to harm workers in a host of ways, including through undermining their rights and dignity. Although antitrust law in recent decades generally has neglected monopsony concerns and harms to workers, I strongly believe that merger investigations must scrutinize the impact on labor markets. Given that Activision disclosed in a March 21, 2022 securities filing that the FTC is conducting a review of the proposed transaction, I am able to confirm that the FTC is investigating the proposed merger. As a reminder, should the deal not go through, Microsoft will have to pay Activision Blizzard 2-3 billion US dollars.
