Microsoft
and
Activision Blizzard
have submitted a new deal to U.K. regulators in a bid to gain approval for their $75 billion merger, prompting a fresh probe.
The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority blocked the original deal to “protect innovation and choice in cloud gaming.” It said the restructured deal will be investigated with a deadline of Oct. 18 for a decision.
As part of the deal, Microsoft (ticker: MSFT) would sell the non-European streaming rights to Activision (ATVI) games to Assassin’s Creed publisher
Ubisoft
(UBI.Paris). Microsoft will not be able to acquire the rights for the next 15 years, the CMA said.
Ubisoft
will be able to license out Activision’s content to any cloud gaming provider, it added.
Microsoft
stock rose 0.5% in premarket trading Tuesday, while Activision shares climbed 1.4%. Shares of Ubisoft, which appears to be a big winner from the revised deal, jumped in 7% in Paris trading.
The CMA, added that Microsoft took the “unusual step” of challenging the CMA’s original decision to block the deal, in light of subsequent agreements reached with the European Commission and a licensing agreement with
Sony.
In July, Sony agreed to a 10-year deal to keep Activision’s Call of Duty games on its PlayStation consoles. Separately, the European Commission required Microsoft to license Activision’s games to competing cloud gaming services, as part of its approval.
“We believe that this development is positive for players, the progression of the cloud game streaming market, and the growth of the industry,” Microsoft said in a statement late Monday.
As the last major regulator left blocking the deal, the U.K.’s CMA faced pressure over whether it would stand its ground or follow the rest of the world. But for Microsoft and Activision, a fresh investigation means an even longer delay for the merger, and no guarantee of approval.
Write to Callum Keown at [email protected]
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