During the hearing, a CMA lawyer stated that the FTC’s court loss did not influence the CMA’s decision to review Microsoft’s new proposal. The lawyer expressed confidence that Microsoft’s restructured transaction could address the concerns identified by the CMA. Notably, Microsoft has not yet submitted an amended proposal to the CMA, despite the merger deadline approaching on July 18th. The resolution of the matter by that date appears unlikely. In such a case, Microsoft and Activision may need to agree to an extension of their current agreement or renegotiate terms. Alternatively, if no agreement is reached, Activision can walk away from the deal with a breakup payment of $3 billion from Microsoft.
