If Sony got involved, then yes, it’s a dare I say game changer.
It’s called doing there due diligence, the CMA throughout this whole process so far have looked to engage with all direct participants, stakeholders and even the general public. That’s a lot of information and data to work through for them to come to their decision.
There’s no conspiracy or bad faith actors at play here, they’re simply doing there job and they are doing it well. We still are due there initial findings and we should have them within a month or so and that will lay the groundwork for whether this deal passes or is blocked. Personally I see this as good news for MS as the more data and information they collect, the better it will be for Microsoft.
Put the pitchforks down people, lol
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Yeah this is actually the opposite of what the FTC has done, CMA seem to be taking their time and doing DD instead of just rushing in to block
At least the provisional findings will still come this month which will still give a lot of insight into where the CMA is leaning
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This. While upsetting they are doing their job. The provisional findings will be interesting to read whenever they drop.
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I’m not freaking out over this, but some people that are suggesting they are just doing their due diligence are wild. They have had almost a year to look at this. By the time this is done, this will be reviewed longer than the Disney-Fox deal was, and that is absolutely absurd. There isnt a data point, argument or perspective they havent read. They simply are stalling.
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They really don’t understand the video game business.
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So you have the dates as to when all the information was submitted to the CMA from all of the aforementioned stakeholders?
They are simply stalling.
This is the problem with gamers, talking authoritatively about subject matters they do not fully understand. They aren’t stalling, they’re doing their fucking job.
Ill leave the tinfoil hat wearing to you guys, fire in.
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To be honest, regulators hardly understand many businesses. You should see their conclusions on the Nuance acquisition.
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Not sure why we constantly need to be quoting “experts” from other forums here if I wanted to read what Idas thought then I’d go there and do so.
In fact all they have done here is a slight contraction/reformatting of what’s in the extension notice.
As for the conspiracy theories it’s clearly stated in the enterprise act that this is a possibility and therefore allowed for (bet it’s been used before as well).
You’ll all be pleased to know that the 8 weeks is the maximum permitted so they can’t extend again after that point.
Unless (and I really debated posting this in case you lot go off on one again) an interested party withholds requested info/data.
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Have they? I don’t know when the CMA started looking into it, but they launched their investigation in July 2022, which is not even close to a year.
Well, mergers aren’t rated on the scale of cost, but the impact on the markets. I do not know if I think Disney buying Fox was monopolistic, but it was in a singlar market to a degree; media and entertainment. Microsoft are a much larger and bigger business than Disney, in terms of where their foot print goes.
Not sure about this either; the timeline specifically states that there is provisional finding period (and first party responses) needed in Jan 2023. If that’s the case, then there must be something that they haven’t fully read.
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Is there another method of extending timeline they have that you are aware of?
I just saw they changed that portion of their timeline. The previous 3rd party submittal timeline was December.
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I disagree. Idas has had a lot of good information about the merger.
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There are only two mechanisms provided for extending the timeline, section 39.3 which is what they’ve done and states a period of extension of “no more that 8 weeks” and section 39.4 that refers to a relevant person failing to comply with a requirement which is what I mentioned earlier re withholding docs or data.
There is no other way the timeline can be shifted.
Have linked section 39 above for reference but .4 at least is not that readable.
More important for me is this bit of the extension notice “The revised reference period will expire on 26 April 2023. However, the Group aims to complete the inquiry as soon as possible and in advance of this date.”
Which shows that while acknowledging they may need more time the intent is not to use it all.
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All of which is available from publicly available sources or a free trail mlex account. More value to link people to the source docs so they can understand the context.
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Microsoft themselves from the beginning gave us a timeframe of FY2023, so the EU and UK regulatory bodies taking over a year to evaluate the deal is not unexpected.
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Government entities move slowly. Who knew? 
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that’s why some conspiracy theories about govt is dumb not saying all but some are
He has but I think he was inferring since Idas was on Resetera it would be best to have someone similar on this forum here like Hoeg. There is also that UK M&A lawyer Luke Steel BREAKING NEWS: Lina Khan & the FTC Sues To Block Microsoft’s Acquisition Of Game Giant Activision! - YouTube
I can agree with that, but until we have our own guy I don’t see any issue with posting Idas info here.
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