(Reuters) – Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard has been blocked by Britain over concerns it would hinder competition in cloud gaming, dealing an unexpected blow to the biggest-ever deal in gaming.
Here is a list of some mergers that recently faced strong antitrust scrutiny around the world:
DEALS UNDER SCRUTINY
DEAL DEAL VALUE CONTEXT
Broadcom – $61 billion The European Commission has
VMware informed Broadcom of its
objection that the deal could
restrict global competition for
the supply of certain adapters by
limiting access for competitors’
hardware to VMware’s software.
Intercontinent $13.1 The U.S. FTC said it would seek
al Exchange – billion to stop the deal as it may lead
Black Knight to higher fees, less innovation
and fewer choices in the
financing process for home
purchases.
Amazon.com – $1.7 Britain’s competition regulator
iRobot billion launched a “Phase 1” probe into
Amazon.com’s planned acquisition
of iRobot. The deal is also being
reviewed by the U.S. FTC.
Kroger – $25 billion Kroger has asked a U.S. judge to
Albertsons dismiss as “speculative” a
Companies consumer antitrust lawsuit
alleging the merger would lessen
grocer competition and drive up
prices.
JetBlue-Spirit $3.8 California and three other states
billion joined the U.S. Justice
Department lawsuit aimed at
preventing JetBlue Airways from
buying rival discount carrier
Spirit Airlines.
Illumina – $7.1 FTC ordered Illumina to divest
Grail billion cancer diagnostic test maker
Grail, finding that its ownership
would stifle competition in the
U.S. market for cancer tests.
DEALS BLOCKED OR ABANDONED
DEAL DEAL VALUE CONTEXT
Microsoft – $69 Britain’s antitrust regulator
Activision billion said Microsoft’s commitment to
Blizzard offer access to Activision’s
multi-billion dollar “Call of
Duty” franchise to leading
cloud-gaming platforms would
not effectively remedy its
concerns.
Voyager Digital – $1.3 Binance.US called off its deal
Binance.US billion to buy assets of bankrupt
crypto lender Voyager Digital,
citing a “hostile and uncertain
regulatory climate.”
Nvidia Corp – Arm More than SoftBank Group Corp shelved its
$80 blockbuster sale of Arm Ltd to
billion the U.S. chipmaker. The FTC
argued that competition in the
nascent markets for chips in
self-driving cars and a new
category of networking chips
could be hurt.
Penguin Random $2.2 Penguin owner Bertelsmann
House – Simon & billion scrapped the merger in
Schuster November. The Biden
administration said the deal
should be stopped because it
would lead to less competition
for blockbuster books and lower
advances for authors who earn
$250,000 or more.
DEALS THAT WENT THROUGH
DEAL DEAL VALUE CONTEXT
Rogers C$20 The final nod from Minister of
Communication – billion Innovation, Science and
Shaw Industry Francois-Philippe
Communication Champagne capped two years of
antitrust uncertainty.
Meta Platforms – Unknown The FTC, which lost a fight in
Within court to block the
acquisition, said in a filing
that it has decided to
formally end its effort.
UnitedHealth About $8 The deal’s completion follows
Group – Change billion a U.S. judge denying the
Healthcare Justice department’s bid to
stop it. The DoJ had said
access to the target’s claims
would give UnitedHealth a view
into rivals’ health plans.
(Reporting by Utkarsh Shetti and Roshia Sabu in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
