LONDON (Reuters) -Britain’s competition regulator said on Wednesday that it would not accept new remedies from Microsoft and Activision after it blocked their merger, but it would consider a restructured deal, which could require a fresh investigation.
Having blocked the $69 billion deal in April, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) watchdog has since said that it would consider new proposals for the deal after a U.S. court ruling that the takeover could go ahead.
“Whilst merging parties don’t have the opportunity to put forward new remedies once a final report has been issued, they can choose to restructure a deal, which can lead to a new merger investigation,” the CMA said on Wednesday.
“Microsoft and Activision have indicated that they are considering how the transaction might be modified, and the CMA is prepared to engage with them on this basis.”
The tech giant’s deal to buy the “Call of Duty” maker is the largest ever for Microsoft and the biggest in videogame history.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle, writing by Muvija M; Editing by Kate Holton)
