Microsoft's acquisition of Activison Blizzard

[Darth Vader]

The hearing will commence on the fortnight beginning on the 24th of July, with 6 days for oral submissions. The court gives the CMA flexibility to the days they require and is open to give both flexibility for additional days. Judge is siding with the CMA on only having 1 working day to process the volume of information provided by Microsoft.

 

[AshHunter216]

The hearing will commence on the fortnight beginning on the 24th of July, with 6 days for oral submissions. The court gives the CMA flexibility to the days they require and is open to give both flexibility for additional days.

Seems like fairly good news since it's past the deadline for the deal and gives the cma time to prepare their arguments. They need a plan to deal with the super lawyer as well, lol.

 

[Darth Vader]

There's a 2nd case management conference on the 12th of June.

 

[Johnic]

Deal's dead. If Activision is squirming, this puts the next hearing past the deadline.

 

[AshHunter216]

There's a 2nd case management conference on the 12th of June.

Curious what that one will be about. Either way the cma have more time to prepare.

 

[Darth Vader]

in ERA think the hearing occurring from the 24th of July onwards is a win. Hey, dumbfucks: The deal is dead from the 18th of July unless shareholders approve an extension. This is not a win, it's a loss. The judge pretty much fully sided with the CMA and allowed them for a load of flexibility + agreed with them on Microsoft being cheeky in providing a small timeline to review the documentation.

 

[Darth Vader]

Curious what this one is about. Either way the cma have more time to prepare.

Basically oral submissions and statements.

 

[Darth Vader]

The judge just shut the Microsoft lawyer with such class. He's coming across as very rational, and I honestly feel validated that he took the sensible approach. To be fair, any other approach would have been stupid. He managed to compromise between a compressed timeline + not fucking the CMA entirely.

 

[AshHunter216]

in ERA think the hearing occurring from the 24th of July onwards is a win. Hey, dumbfucks: The deal is dead from the 18th of July unless shareholders approve an extension. This is not a win, it's a loss. The judge pretty much fully sided with the CMA and allowed them for a load of flexibility + agreed with them on Microsoft being cheeky in providing a small timeline to review the documentation.

That could drag on into the FTC's hearing timeline, which means MS will be fighting on 2 fronts at roughly the same time.

 

[Sircaw]

Yes, that's my understanding. They did not say this verbatim of course, but their posture points to that.



Best case? Regular timeline to be followed, which will mean deal is dead regardless of what the CMA has to provide.
Worst case? Judge orders that the CMA has to come up with their case within an expedited timeline (2 to 4 weeks) while complying with the exact same level of standards of a regular timeline.

Edit - I am not an expert nor a lawyer, so my understanding may be completely wrong. Take all I say with a grain of salt.

I watched La Law as a kid, your analysis seems good to me.

 

[Darth Vader]

That could drag on into the FTC's hearing timeline, which means MS will be fighting on 2 fronts at roughly the same time.

That matters little, the legal teams would be different. What matters most is that if ABK gets cold feet, deal is done without that hearing. And I'm not entirely sure if MS shareholders will approve an extension.

 

[Darth Vader]

Microsoft yet again bringing other regulators into the fold. Amazing balls.

 

[AshHunter216]

That matters little, the legal teams would be different. What matters most is that if ABK gets cold feet, deal is done without that hearing. And I'm not entirely sure if MS shareholders will approve an extension.

It depends on whether the investors on both sides view it as worth the trouble to field 2 different legal teams for 2 regions to fight for a deal that has an unfavorable appeals process for them in the UK in particular.

 

[AshHunter216]

Microsoft yet again bringing other regulators into the fold. Amazing balls.

The cma could bring up that other regulators also disagree with MS on the cloud market not being a real market.

 

[Darth Vader]

The cma could bring up that other regulators also disagree with MS on the cloud market not being a real market.

I believe they will when the time is right. Microsoft is basically asking about documentation that shows if the CMA made their decision based on information provided by other regulators.

 

[gokuss4]

The green rats are so butthurt on gaf thread
One of them tried to bring ps showcase to that thread
But everyone ignored him lol

 

[MrRevocs1256]

So Brad Smith is super angry right now

 

[Darth Vader]

The older gentleman from Microsoft's team is now throwing one final hail mary trying to imply that the CMA had plenty of time to review Microsoft's submission. Motherfuckers, they had 1 business day!

 

[Darth Vader]

So Brad Smith is super angry right now

Got a source?

 

[Darth Vader]

He just called one of the decisions "misguided". I'm not sure if that won't backfire.