The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday sued to block Microsoft’s planned $69 billion takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard, saying it could suppress competitors to Microsoft’s Xbox game console and its growing games subscription business. Smith said Microsoft has been committed to addressing competition concerns and brought proposed concessions to the FTC earlier this week. Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweeted Thursday that she welcomed the FTC action, noting that she had urged Khan to scrutinize the proposed merger. Both the Justice Department and the FTC this year have looked at strengthening merger guidelines to better detect and prevent illegal and anticompetitive deals. But the sheer size of the Activision Blizzard acquisition — which could be the priciest in tech industry history — has drawn attention.

Source: thestar December 09, 2022 00:48 UTC