United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will be reviewing the acquisition deal of video game maker Activision Blizzard Inc. (ACTV) by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT). Microsoft is set to acquire Activision for a whopping $68.7 billion.
This was revealed through a report first posted on Bloomberg according to which, FTC will be conducting the review instead of the Justice Department. The review will be seeking to establish if the acquisition will harm competition in the wider video gaming industry.
Last week, both the the FTC and the Justice Department issued a joint statement claiming industries have become increasingly concentrated and a surge in merger filings in 2020 and 2021 signaled the situation will worsen.
Thereafter, the FTC voted unanimously to sue to block purchase of rocket engine manufacturer Rocketdyne Holdings (AJRD) by arms maker Lockheed Martin (LMT) citing antitrust concerns over the deal.
If the Microsoft and Activision takeover deal sails through, then it will be the biggest ever acquisition deal in the video gaming market. In addition the deal will also go on record as the largest all-cash acquisition deal.
