UK business and trade minister disagrees with Microsoft on regulation of Activision deal

The UK secretary of state for business and trade Kemi Badenoch voiced disagreement with Microsoft CEO Brad Smith’s criticism of the UK CMA’s initial decision to block the Activision deal. The UK CMA initially blocked Microsoft’s proposed $68.7bn acquisition of Activision in April later confirming the decision in August. Activision later announced a deal to provide streaming rights for its subsidiary Blizzard to Ubisoft in all jurisdictions outside the EU in order to address CMA concerns. The EU approved the deal in May, although this is now under review following the proposed transfer of streaming rights. In April, Microsoft CEO Brad Smith described the UK’s initial rejection of the deal as “bad for Britain” stating that there was a “clear message” that “the European Union is a more attractive place to start a business if you want some day to sell it.” Discussing this statement Badenoch said "We were not an outlier if you talk about the size of the market... At some point, we have to decide are we making (decisions) in a way that's right for us or just trying to do what everybody else is doing?”.

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Bloomberg antitrust reporter Leah Nylen reported that Judge Mehta will decide this morning whether the public can access exhibits in the DoJ’s landmark monopoly case against Google. The DoJ’s case against Microsoft, which is considered the most significant antitrust lawsuit since the department’s litigation against Microsoft almost 25 years ago, centres on allegations that Google breached competition law in its agreements with network operators that designated it as the default search engine. Judge Mehta’s pending decision on public access to exhibits follows a disagreement between the parties on public access to aspects of the trial. The DoJ argued that aspects of the trial relating to search advertising pricing were central to its case, in the public interest and therefore should be unredacted. Google argued that documents relating to search advertising pricing should remain redacted and be discussed in closed sessions.

FTX filed a lawsuit yesterday against Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents alleging unjust enrichment of $26mn in transfers of cash and property. The lawsuit alleges that Bankman-Fried’s parents “exploited their access and influence within the FTX enterprise to enrich themselves, directly and indirectly, by millions of dollars.” The bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange is currently chaired by John Ray III who previously oversaw Enron’s insolvency. Last week FTX received approval to begin selling cryptocurrency assets in order to repay creditors.

Reporting by Nick Scott. For a further read:

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