Welcome to the modern era of global antitrust enforcement — an elaborate labyrinth of regulatory bodies working together.
The shift now is that what are perhaps the three most important regulators worldwide — the F.T.C., the European Commission, and Britain's Competition and Markets Authority — are roughly on the same page. All of them want to be seen as tough on deals.
Cracking down on consolidation, especially in Big Tech, is politically popular on both the right and left, and antitrust cases are getting more attention from the public.
One former enforcement official, who asked not to be named because his employer had not authorized him to comment, put it this way to DealBook: Regulators would rather fight to block a deal and lose than accept a compromise, because the political cost of agreement is too steep.
The F.T.C. opposed Microsoft's bid to acquire Activision in a lawsuit filed in December. Microsoft's legal team also expects the antitrust authority in Britain to oppose the transaction, while it believes the European Commission is open to potential remedies, according to four people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly.
Some of these people said that Microsoft was hoping to convince both Britain and the European Union to accept its concessions and approve the deal, which could make it easier for the company to reach an agreement with the F.T.C. before the scheduled administrative trial starts in the summer. If all of the agencies accept the compromise, the (perhaps wishful) thinking goes, none of them will look weak on Big Tech.
That logic also works in reverse: Any of the three agencies could instead put pressure on the others to oppose the acquisition.
Microsoft’s Activision Deal Tests a New Global Alignment on Antitrust - The New York Times
Even Microsoft thinks that Britain will oppose the transaction. My estimate on it closing is now down to 10% 
Lets hope that Politics doesn't outweigh actual laws and common sense though. If FTC's tactic of not putting in any effort, not creating any logical argument, only blocking the deal to push others to block it and do the work for the FTC, actually works...Well, it was a smart tactic but very poor behaviour of a regulatory body and lets hope UK doesn't come rushing in to be USA's lapdog again.
I don't think the vast majority in UK actually give a shit about the CMA being tough on deals.
Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 04 February 2023
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