The UK regulator’s Microsoft-Activision Blizzard red light will be hard to reverse
05 May 2023 00:00
Duration: 15:03
Microsoft has lashed out at the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority over its decision to veto the software giant’s $69 billion acquisition of gaming company Activision Blizzard. Microsoft President Brad Smith called the decision “the darkest day of our four decades in Britain,” warning that the regulator’s red light had shaken the company’s confidence about doing business in the UK. On this week’s podcast, MLex’s M&A team examines the fallout of the CMA’s decision and what it means for the prospects of the global deal.
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Editorial Team
James Panichi Senior Editor, Asia Pacific
James, an Australian journalist with over 25 years’ experience in print and electronic media, helps to oversee MLex’s coverage of regulatory risk in Asia, with special attention to Australia and New Zealand. In 2016, James was appointed as MLex’s managing editor for continental Europe, overseeing the Brussels bureau’s coverage of EU regulatory affairs and managing a team of 16 journalists in Brussels and Geneva. Previously James worked for the European Voice newspaper, before joining the... Read more
Andrew Boyce Correspondent
Andrew is a reporter covering merger reviews and competition policy for MLex in Brussels. He joined MLex in 2015 and holds a degree and a master’s degree in history from the University of Liverpool.
Flavia Fortes Global Head of Mergers
Flavia writes about merger control, antitrust enforcement and litigation in the U.S. and Brazil. Before joining MLex, Flavia worked as an Antitrust Consultant in the Federal Trade Commission's Office of International Affairs and as a Research Fellow for the American Antitrust Institute. She has written on the intersection of antitrust law and intellectual property law in technology-driven and innovative markets.Flavia holds a LL.M. in intellectual property from the George Washington University Law School and a... Read more
Nicholas Hirst Chief Correspondent
Nicholas covers EU merger review and antitrust investigations for Mlex in Brussels. He previously wrote about EU affairs for Politico Europe, European Voice and PaRR. After earning an LLM in European law from the College of Europe in Bruges, he spent a year working in the competition practice of a leading competition law firm in Brussels 2009-10. He graduated in modern European languages from Oxford University in 2006.