Meanwhile, the FTC is scheduled to conduct its own evidentiary hearing on the acquisition starting on August 2nd. The agency had filed a lawsuit to block the merger and sought a preliminary injunction, but its attempts were unsuccessful. Both Microsoft and Activision are expected to finalize the merger by early August. While there were previous suggestions that they might try to proceed with the deal by the original deadline despite the CMA dispute, it appears unlikely given the parties’ willingness to find a mutually agreeable resolution. The CMA has extended the deadline to August 29th to make its final decision on the case.
