Wall Street no longer fears the FTC’s final attempt to block ABK/MSFT and puts chances of the deal closing at 80 percent. That puts all eyes on the UK's antitrust watchdog.
As we sit here on the morning of July 17th it’s hard to imagine the CMA making an announcement which allows MSFT to close on the 18th given the practicalities of funds flow etc (but making myself a hostage to fortune over a 48 hour period probably isn’t a great idea!). I think it’s reasonably clear the CMA wants a solution and it’s more likely MSFT lets the 6 week period run its course and close the entire deal.
I don’t think any kind of meaningful disposal is really required by the CMA now. The issue appears to be cloud gaming and I expect some kind of solution specific to that market (as has been leaked to the press) will be satisfactory to everyone but UK Xbox Cloud users…
As we sit here on the morning of July 17th it’s hard to imagine the CMA making an announcement which allows MSFT to close on the 18th given the practicalities of funds flow etc (but making myself a hostage to fortune over a 48 hour period probably isn’t a great idea!). I think it’s reasonably clear the CMA wants a solution and it’s more likely MSFT lets the 6 week period run its course and close the entire deal.
I don’t think any kind of meaningful disposal is really required by the CMA now. The issue appears to be cloud gaming and I expect some kind of solution specific to that market (as has been leaked to the press) will be satisfactory to everyone but UK Xbox Cloud users…