Shares of Activision Blizzard (ATVI) were down in pre-market trading on Wednesday because as expected, UK’s antitrust regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) raised its concerns regarding Microsoft’s (MSFT) $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The CMA’s in-depth probe has found that this acquisition could result in weakening the “important rivalry” between XBox and Sony’s (SONY) PlayStation consoles. According to Reuters, the CMA added that this acquisition could “result in higher prices, fewer choices, and less innovation for millions of gamers.”
The CMA is expected to announce its final report by April 26 and would be willing to consider responses from both companies regarding its concerns before that date.
In response to the concerns raised by the CMA, Activision stated that “We hope between now and April we will be able to help the CMA better understand our industry to ensure they can achieve their stated mandate to promote an environment where people can be confident they are getting great choices and fair deals, where competitive, fair-dealing business can innovate and thrive, and where the whole UK economy can grow productively and sustainably.”
Earlier this week, Activision Blizzard’s CEO Bobby Kotick had expressed concerns about the UK raising objections to this deal.
ATVI stock is down by 5.22% in the past year.
