CNBC's David Faber appeared to throw some cold water on a Politico report from last Wednesday that the Federal Trade Commission is likely to file an antitrust lawsuit to block the $95/share Activision sale to Microsoft.
"I don't necessarily directional believe that story from Politico is correct from last week," Faber said on the business network. "I don't have any reporting that I would go out strong with, but this is a situation that continues to bear watching. And those who believe that there's an extraordinarily high likelihood that it's going to get blocked, let's give it a little more time."
Activision-Blizzard stock rose 1% after reporting.
Activision Stock Gains as Report Downplays Politico Item on Potential FTC Challenge | Seeking Alpha
Activision Blizzard was added to Wedbush's Best Ideas List with the firm expecting the game maker's $69 billion sale to Microsoft "highly" likely to be completed within the next six months.
The Wedbush recommendation comes after a Politico report last Wednesday that the FTC is likely to file an antitrust lawsuit to block the $95/share Activision deal. On Monday, Reuters reported that Microsoft is likely to soon offer the European Union concessions in order to dismiss objections to its Activision deal. Microsoft's plan would be a 10-year licensing deal with Sony.
Pachter highlighted that the combined Activision/Microsoft will still have just 10% or so of the combined worldwide video game market, behind Tencent and Sony.
"We think that regulatory challenges in the U.S., U.K., and E.U. are unlikely to materialize in a formal manner, and even less likely to succeed if they do," Pachter wrote.
Activision Added to Wedbush Best Ideas List Deal or No Deal (NASDAQ:ATVI) | Seeking Alpha
Despite what Politico and others are leaking, it seems that a decent portion of the market still strongly believe in the deal passing, a lot recently have invested or upgraded Activision-Blizzard in part due to belief in the acquisition closing, also, Warren Buffet still hasn't changed his position after he boosted his investment to 9.5% on account of the deal passing. Faber is also the guy who shot down the Amazon acquiring EA rumour, instantly.
Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 01 December 2022
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