Nothing but a simple speed bump on the way to this inexorable acquisition that nothing seems to be able to stop since the American organizations completely lost the legal battle. Potential monopoly or not, Xbox and Activision mutually arrange by pushing back the deadline for a simple reason: canceling the acquisition would be as counterproductive at this stage as it would be costly. The Redmond company should pay a financial compensation of 3 billion dollars to Activision in the event of cancellation.
One again cliffhanger
The news was confirmed by Phil Spencer himself on Twitter. The Xbox boss appears, of course, very happy with this little arrangement. “We are optimistic about the completion of the takeover, and excited to bring more games to more players around the world.“A very nice feeling which is materialized in particular by the signing of a binding agreement stipulating that Call of Duty would remain on PlayStation consoles for the next 10 years.
In the battle, Microsoft investors will be compensated for the delay up to $0.99 per share held in the company as of yesterday. Also in pecuniary matters, Activision’s financial compensation would rise to 3.5 billion in the event of failure after August 29, then 4.5 billion dollars after September 15. That said, the chances of both parties canceling the buyout are slim, and this compensating inflation will be used more as a guideline.
By October 18, we will expect a new verdict from the CMA. The British commission will certainly have to legislate on a renegotiation of the terms of the takeover after having opposed it last April, citing the possibilities of a hegemony of Microsoft on the market of the clouds just emerging as reason enough to limit their expansion. There followed a tasty battle between the daddies of Windows and the British government, with as many legal bird names as a political haggle can entail. Today, the time seems to be calm between the CMA and Microsoft. Especially since being the last major entity to refuse the takeover, the English commission is in a delicate position. Hoping that the situation will be resolved as soon as possible, that we can write on other subjects…