This week a hearing was held where Lina Khan was questioned about the decision to block the agreement between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard.
If all goes as planned by Microsoft, the Activision Blizzard purchase should close within the next two months, although there is a problem in the United States with the FTC, which sued to block the operation at the end of 2022. Everything indicates that a judge will have to decide whether to approve the merger and surely said trial will be at the beginning of 2024, but Microsoft will try to convince the FTC not to reach that point if it receives approval in the most important markets: United Kingdom, China and Europe.
On this occasion, Lina Khan, president of the FTC, has been questioned about her favorable position towards Sony. According to the Wccftech media, a hearing has been held in the United States House of Representatives where Lina Khan has been questioned. Diana Harshbarger, a Republican representative from Tennessee’s 1st District, has noted the following:
“I think we can all agree that competition law should not protect a dominant company. In light of this, I find it curious that the FTC would act to protect Sony, which has 68% of the world’s music market, from competition. high-end video game consoles , and try to block Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. As you know, Sony has been the main opponent of that deal, and surprisingly, the FTC has sided with Sony. Can you explain why you think this is a good idea?”
Lina Khan responded, saying that the lawsuit filed against Microsoft “has been voted on” and that they make their own judgments based on “law and facts.”
“This case
has also been voted on and is in administrative proceedings, so I’ll let the complaint speak for itself. I would say that in general, it’s always in our best interest
to hear from market participants in general, including the big players, but at the In the end, we always make our own independent judgments based on the law and the facts.”
The United Kingdom will communicate its final decision this week
The UK CMA said a few weeks ago that it was no longer concerned about the console market, something that had caused many headaches at Microsoft. On April 26 we will clear up doubts, but it seems that now the concerns are in the cloud market.
