UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a notice delaying its final ruling on the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal by six weeks.
The regulator was originally scheduled to issue its verdict on July 18, the same day as the deal’s deadline. That date has now been pushed to August 29, as the CMA has declared “insufficient time remaining in the statutory period for full and proper consideration of Microsoft’s submission on the proposed Order.”
With the extension, Microsoft has extra time to close the deal, and the CMA has extra time to review the developer’s changes to its acquisition plans. Those changes are reportedly “detailed and complex” enough to warrant a thorough review and reconsideration of its initial block.
The delays comes days after Microsoft survived the FTC’s attempt to block the deal, and was allowed to continue its merger in the United States. While the FTC tried to file an appeal the following day, Reuters has reported that appeal was denied yesterday, July 13.
Following its victory against the FTC, the Xbox maker reportedly reentered negotiations with the CMA, which has doggedly worked to stop the merger. Thus far, the negotiations are said by the UK regulator to be in “early talks,” and may possible lead to an entirely new investigation.
Even with this new extension, the CMA notes that it will try to “discharge its duty as soon as possible and in advance of this date.”