Microsoft's acquisition of Activison Blizzard

AshHunter216

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According to a Jez Corden article (apologies), Reuters conceded that their sourced info is weeks-old. EU could still approve given how they have been behaving during this process imo though.

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BloodMod

Fear the Old Blood
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Please let him troll
time watch GIF by Chris Kläfford
 

AshHunter216

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Yeah, I just read the Reuters article and it says that they heard this from their sources back in March. Not saying it won't happen, but things could have changed.
 

thicc_girls_are_teh_best

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Bloomberg is also saying it. There's no doubt there's a lot of people/organizations with a vested interest in this deal going through, but the EU taking Microsoft's side wouldn't surprise me.

We're talking the same Bloomberg that employs Bloomberg Takahashi, known PlayStation FUD artist?

Yeah I wouldn't take their opinion with much on this, either. Like with the FTC and CMA, the only word that matters is the EC's own official statement. And we still have a bit of a wait for that to come through.
 

AshHunter216

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We're talking the same Bloomberg that employs Bloomberg Takahashi, known PlayStation FUD artist?

Yeah I wouldn't take their opinion with much on this, either. Like with the FTC and CMA, the only word that matters is the EC's own official statement. And we still have a bit of a wait for that to come through.
Looking through it a bit more, even the original source for all of this admits that what they heard is from March.
 

Cool hand luke

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It really does feel like an attempt to pump the stock before it permanently settles in the 70s. There must be some angry bag holders on Wall Street. Fuck them.

I've changed my mind about @Sleepy Brown. Trolling is fine but it's just the same copy and paste spam that'll vanish with him when all avenues of appeal are extinguished in the UK. Why let him suck up this much oxygen? @ManPhlaps was the same super cocky figure and never showed his face again after the CMA crushed his ballsack and Xbox's hopes and dreams.
 
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Darth Vader

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I find your lack of faith disturbing
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Possible doesn't mean it's probable. These people should learn the meanings. And CAT can't say shit to CMA. CAT can just grand the appeal or deny it, it is all the power it has.

It's also possible that I'll get a blowjob from Jennifer Lawrence. Is it probable? Not. But as long as we're both alive and on the same planet, it's possible.
 
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thicc_girls_are_teh_best

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How Big Tech's 'economic consultants' undermine EU competition policy


Big Tech is the biggest lobby sector in the EU by spending, ahead of pharma, fossil fuels, finance, or chemicals. And a significant part of that powerful lobbying firepower in Brussels is wielded by Google, Amazon, Meta (formerly Facebook), Apple, and Microsoft (known as 'GAFAM'). Together, GAFAM spends more than €26.5 million on influencing the EU institutions.​

At least we'll know that if the EC approve the deal with the remedies currently on the table, we'll know there's at least a 50% chance it had little to do with the merits of arguments in favor of the deal and more with what money and favors were offered up BTS in exchange for the deal's passing.

Which as others have been saying would make the EC look very weak and prone to corporations running all over them, which ultimately is never good for actual customers. But if that's what they want for their markets, it's their choice. Considering the EC seemed even more focused on cloud (at least IIRC) than the CMA and had bigger concerns (again IIRC), if MS's behavioral remedies were no good for the CMA I find it very hard to believe they'll be enough for the EC.

Looking through it a bit more, even the original source for all of this admits that what they heard is from March.

Yeah, noticed that too. It's old info, so nothing worth really pushing at the moment. The fact two month old info is being regurgitated days before the EC's decision, rather than any actually new info, seems like a last-minute gamble to try boosting morale among the pro-acquisition crowd before an actual verdict is given.

We saw some of these same tactics before the CMA's decision and look what happened there.
 

Edmund

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It really does feel like an attempt to pump the stock before it permanently settles in the 70s. There must be some angry bag holders on Wall Street. Fuck them.

I've changed my mind about @Sleepy Brown. Trolling is fine but it's just the same copy and paste spam that'll vanish with him when all avenues of appeal are extinguished in the UK. Why let him suck up this much oxygen? @ManPhlaps was the same super cocky figure and never showed his face again after the CMA crushed his ballsack and Xbox's hopes and dreams.

The question is why do all these Xbox fanboys sound so douchey and behave so arrogantly? Even the people working at MS like Brad Smith is behaving like a fucking cunt. And don't get me started on the hypocrite "good guy" Phil.
 

AshHunter216

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At least we'll know that if the EC approve the deal with the remedies currently on the table, we'll know there's at least a 50% chance it had little to do with the merits of arguments in favor of the deal and more with what money and favors were offered up BTS in exchange for the deal's passing.

Which as others have been saying would make the EC look very weak and prone to corporations running all over them, which ultimately is never good for actual customers. But if that's what they want for their markets, it's their choice. Considering the EC seemed even more focused on cloud (at least IIRC) than the CMA and had bigger concerns (again IIRC), if MS's behavioral remedies were no good for the CMA I find it very hard to believe they'll be enough for the EC.



Yeah, noticed that too. It's old info, so nothing worth really pushing at the moment. The fact two month old info is being regurgitated days before the EC's decision, rather than any actually new info, seems like a last-minute gamble to try boosting morale among the pro-acquisition crowd before an actual verdict is given.

We saw some of these same tactics before the CMA's decision and look what happened there.
It might be very telling that Phil's new PR line is that ABK is "Not their strategy but an accelerant to their strategy ", almost as though they're trying to soften the blow if things ultimately don't go well.
It's also interesting that Google is mentioned as one of the companies that lobby the EU, and they're against the deal.
 

Cool hand luke

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Yeah, noticed that too. It's old info, so nothing worth really pushing at the moment. The fact two month old info is being regurgitated days before the EC's decision, rather than any actually new info, seems like a last-minute gamble to try boosting morale among the pro-acquisition crowd before an actual verdict is given.

We saw some of these same tactics before the CMA's decision and look what happened there.
It's all about exit liquidity for institutional investors, nothing to do with morale. It makes bag holders out of the Xbox fanbase, but anyone who got in at 85 a share expecting 95 is already underwater and on their way to insolvency if they over leveraged, like I suspect butthurt baby Florian Mueller did. For a grown man to sound that hysterical and use the language he does ("injustice" in relation to a well measured and rigorous decision by the CMA to block the deal for 10 years), he must be up to his eyeballs in debt.
 

Gods&Monsters

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