Microsoft Gets Furious After Getting Blocked from Acquiring US Gaming Firm Activision, saying its Confidence in the United Kingdom has been Severely Shaken.
Syed Imran Haider 
Microsoft’s latest failure to acquire Activision – a US gaming company, despite several attempts in recent times, has shaken its confidence in the United Kingdom. The software giant gets furious after the UK regulator blocked it from purchasing the said firm.
The UK’s decision indicates the multi-billion-dollar deal cannot move ahead worldwide. It has made Brad Smith, Microsoft President, burst out on the UK as his company’s failure in the acquisition of Activision. He says the action is worse for Britain, and the European Union is a far better place to initiate a business startup.
Brad also marked the day of getting blocked from acquiring Activision as the darkest day for Microsoft in its four decades of operating in the UK. On the other hand, the UK regulator responded to Brad’s comment, revealing it did what was best for individuals as the UK does not prefer helping companies merge with commercial interests.
Interestingly, the European Union and United States regulators have not yet decided whether or not they approve the deal. The Competition & Markets Authority or CMA of the United Kingdom says the Activision firm works intertwined via diverse marketplaces, so the UK cannot separate it for the country. The UK regulator then blocked the deal from happening worldwide.
In the case of the approval of the deal, it would have made $68.7 billion as the biggest ever takeover of the gaming industry, and Microsoft would have held the massive games titles, including Candy Crush and Call of Duty.
A Clear Yet Unpleasant Message
Brad Smith gave an interview to BBC’s program famous as Wake up to Money wherein he told the host that CMS’s decision disappointed Microsoft to a great extent. According to the company’s president, the decision is unhealthy for Britain, which he thinks is more unfortunate.
He said the UK’s move has done more than shake Microsoft’s confidence in the future opportunity to grow a tech business in Britain than the company has ever confronted. It has shocked and disappointed people and severely shaken their confidence in technology in the United Kingdom.
Smith believes the move has conveyed a clear yet unpleasant message that the EU is a better place to have a tech startup than the UK. Readers can get more on what Microsoft’s president said in the BBC interview in the podcast program to Wake Up to Money.
According to the spokesperson for the UK PM Rishi Sunak, Mr. Brad Smith should not say that the CMA’s move was unhealthy for Britain and that the European Union was more attractive to start a technology business. Nobody can use the facts to prove these claims. He added that the UK gaming sector had multiplied over the last decade.
While the UK would keep engaging with Microsoft, the CMA regulator is independent in its decisions. The management has post-Brexit goals to introduce a set of rules for science & technology to boost economic growth.
