Analysts Believe Microsoft Has 15% Chance To Successfully Appeal Against CMA Decision

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion has been a lengthy struggle, with approval from a few still pending. Previously, the UK’s CMA dismissed Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, leading to its darkest day in Britain. 

The CMA’s decision was based on their perception that the deal would have a detrimental impact on the cloud gaming market. Microsoft intends to challenge this decision by appealing in the British court.

However, analysts suggest that Microsoft’s chances of successfully appealing the CMA’s decision are slim.

Why It Matters: The CMA is one of the major hurdles for Microsoft in completing the Activision Blizzard deal, and the gaming giant is not looking to accept the CMA’s decision easily.

While the approval of the deal by the EU could support their appeal, analysts at Raymond James said that they believe Microsoft has a 10-15% chance of a successful deal. This is backed by the fact that there is a solid historical record of the CMA winning against appeals.

CMA’s dismissal of Microsoft’s deal has also led UK politicians to express disappointment in the decision, including the Prime Minister. Microsoft is now being backed by Nvidia and several other cloud providers like Boosteroid.

It would not be feasible for Microsoft to abandon the UK market completely, but the company may attempt to find a workaround in case the CMA’s decision on Activision does not change.

With the FTC already against the merger and suing Microsoft for this deal, the acquisition of Activision Blizzard seems difficult at this point. The CMA may also have blocked the deal for 10 years.

However, Microsoft recently earned approval from the European Commission and China, giving some hope for the future.