Another authority has agreed to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft by the Japanese Fair Trade Commission. As stated in the 43-page justification, the competition authorities believe there is no danger to free competition in the acquisition.
For the last few months, regulators around the world have been debating Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Japan is already one step further. As the Tokyo-based Fair Trade Commission announced this morning, competition authorities in the land of the rising sun will approve the $68.7 billion deal.
A 43-page justification, published exclusively in Japanese, explains that the Fair Trade Commission sees no danger to free competition in the largest takeover in video game history to date.
Several countries have agreed to the takeover.
According to the Fair Trade Commission's justification, the purchase of Microsoft or Activision Blizzard products played a minor role.
The FTC of the United States has previously approved the transaction in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Chile, and Serbia. A particularly significant issue lies behind Microsoft's planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a lawsuit that the company is attempting to prevent.
The Competition and Markets Authority, which was initially hesitant to sign the agreement due to the "Call of Duty" series, has changed. A few days ago, Microsoft announced that the acquisition is no longer a threat to competition in Great Britain.
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Unspecified Microsoft concessions might also lead to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard being approved in Europe. This is the European Commission's most recent statement, which has postponed its final report on the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by a few weeks due to the concessions. It has now decided to submit it by May 22, 2023.
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