Microsoft’s president has slammed the UK after the company was denied permission to acquire US gaming company Activision, claiming that the EU was a better place to start a business. According to Brad Smith of Technology News UK, the move was “bad for Britain” and marked Microsoft’s “darkest day” in the country’s four decades of operation. The regulator responded by saying it had to do what was best for people, which included “not merging firms with commercial interests.” Because of the UK’s decision, the multibillion-dollar deal cannot be implemented globally.
Although US and EU regulators have yet to decide whether to approve the deal, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the United Kingdom stated: “Activision is intertwined across markets and cannot be separated for the UK. As a result, this decision prevents the transaction from taking place on a global scale.”
If approved, the $68.7 billion (£55 billion) deal would have been the largest-ever takeover in the gaming industry, with Microsoft acquiring massively popular game titles such as Call of Duty, Candy Crush, and World of Warcraft. Microsoft and Activision have both stated that they will appeal the CMA’s decision.
