After the Reuters story came out, Activision’s shares went up by 2%.
People who know about the situation say that Microsoft’s (MSFT.O) $69 billion offer to buy “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) is likely to be met with solutions from EU antitrust regulators in the coming weeks. This is to avoid formal objections to the deal.
The U.S. software giant and Xbox maker announced the deal in January. It will help them compete better with Tencent (0700. HK) and Sony, which are currently in the top two spots (6758%).
Related: Microsoft and Sony are engaged in the most recent Call of Duty conflict.
Since then, it has run into trouble with regulators in the European Union, Britain, and the United States. Sony has criticized the deal and even asked for a regulator to block it.
The European Commission, which is looking into the deal, has until January to put together a formal list of competition concerns, called a “statement of objection.” Offering solutions before a document like this is released could speed up the regulatory process.
Stephane Dionnet, a partner at the law firm McDermott Will & Emery, said, “In the end, such a move could get early approval from the European Commission and then be used by the parties in front of other antitrust agencies.”
“However, it remains to be seen whether the active complainants will accept these concessions (especially in terms of scope) and whether the CMA and the FTC will also accept behavioral remedies,” he said, referring to the antitrust agencies in the UK and the US.
Another person with direct knowledge said that Microsoft’s solution would mostly be a 10-year licensing deal with Sony, the company that owns the Playstation.
After the Reuters story came out, Activision’s shares went up by 2%.
The EU’s competition watchdog, which is supposed to decide on the deal by April 11, and Sony both said they had nothing to say about it.
Microsoft said that it was working with the Commission to deal with real concerns in the market.
“Sony, which is the leader in the industry, is worried about Call of Duty, but we’ve promised to release the same game on both Xbox and PlayStation on the same day. “We want more people to be able to play games, not fewer,” someone from Microsoft said.
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Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Serbia have all given the deal their full blessing.
