The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may come to a decision on the deal between Microsoft and Activision by the end of November. Earlier, the Microsoft company has offered to acquire Activision for $69 million.
In the late March, FTC has started a thorough antitrust investigation on the companies’ potential merger. So far, the investigation is focused on the staff and controlled by the Bureau of Competition.
The Dealreporter was informed by its sources that the Federal Trade Commission has some serious doubts about the upcoming deal. At this point, FTC is gathering additional information about the concerns of the companies’ rivals and other parties involved.
The most recent information on this matter has appeared after the antitrust regulator of the U.K. set a deadline for making the decision on the Activision’s acquisition until March 1.
On Friday, the European Commission got Microsoft’s application to buy Activision and set a provisional deadline for the companies’ merger on November 8.
According to the Dealreporter’s unofficial data, last month Sony had an appointment with the European Commission in order to report its doubts on the upcoming acquisition. Beyond that, there was some information about the Google’s concerns on this matter as well. The company also expressed them to the regulator.
However, Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, said in the interview to Bloomberg that he’s assured in the deal’s approval, despite its thorough investigation.