By Diane Bartz
![\"\"](\"\/\/www.iser-br.com\/Themes\/Release\/images\/responsive\/ettelecom-default.jpg\")
<\/strong>
WASHINGTON: The Biden<\/a> administration may struggle to convince a judge to stop Microsoft<\/a> Corp's $69 billion bid for \"Call of Duty<\/a>\" maker Activision<\/a> , because of the voluntary concessions offered by the tech giant to allay fears it could dominate the gaming market, antitrust experts said.
The Federal Trade Commission<\/a> (FTC<\/a>), which enforces antitrust law, asked a judge to block the transaction on Thursday, arguing that the merger would allow Microsoft<\/a>'s Xbox to get exclusive access to Activision<\/a> games, leaving Nintendo<\/a> consoles and Sony's PlayStation out in the cold.
The Biden<\/a> administration has sought to reinvigorate antitrust enforcement, with the FTC<\/a> and Justice Department challenging many more deals than most recent predecessors in industries as disparate as publishing, a variety of medical fields, defense and home hardware.
Microsoft, which said yesterday it is confident in its case, is seeking to close the biggest gaming industry deal in history to rapidly expand its portfolio of popular games and catch up to bigger rivals.
Fixes proposed by Microsoft, including a 10-year commitment to offer \"Call of Duty<\/a>,\" its popular first-person shooter series, to Nintendo<\/a> Co Ltd platforms and Sony's PlayStation, give the company a good shot at winning over the FTC judge who will hear the case, lawyers said.
\"The legal precedent is not on the side of the FTC,\" said Andre Barlow, an antitrust lawyer at Doyle, Barlow & Mazard PLLC. \"We've had at least three judges that have accepted remedies by the merging parties,\" he added.
Barlow pointed to three recent mergers challenged by the FTC or Justice Department that were ultimately allowed to proceed. In all three cases, UnitedHealth Group's purchase of Change Healthcare, AT&T's bid for Time Warner and Grail's acquisition by Illumina, the buyers offered remedies aimed at blunting antitrust concerns.
Those cases share something else in common with the proposed Microsoft deal: in each instance, a company would merge with a supplier in a so-called \"vertical\" merger. Judges tend to view such deals more favorably than \"horizontal\" mergers, where a company seeks to scoop up a rival, experts said.
\"Vertical merger challenges are really difficult to win so it will be an uphill battle for the FTC,\" said Roger Alford, who teaches law at the University of Notre Dame.
Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, said in a note that the FTC lawsuit gave Microsoft a roadmap for allaying antitrust concerns by offering further concessions: It could agree to offer Activision games to rivals for the same price, quality and release date as for Xbox.
UNITED STATES NOT THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN
<\/strong>
But even if Microsoft can prevail over the FTC in a U.S. court, it still has to satisfy skeptical regulators in Europe.
\"The fact that the FTC is taking a run at the transaction\" will embolden the European Union, said William Kovacic, a former FTC chair who now teaches at the George Washington University Law School.
In its complaint, the FTC said that Microsoft had previously told European regulators that they had no incentive to make games from the 2021 ZeniMax acquisition exclusive but then did so with some games.
Reuters reported last month that Microsoft was expected to offer remedies to EU antitrust regulators in the coming weeks to stave off formal objections to the deal. The deadline for the European Commission to set out a formal list of competition concerns is next month.
\"There is a strong possibility that the EC will prohibit the merger and they don't have to go to court,\" said Seth Bloom of Bloom Strategic Counsel.
<\/body>","next_sibling":[{"msid":96127358,"title":"Microsoft acquires firm developing high-speed cables","entity_type":"ARTICLE","link":"\/news\/microsoft-acquires-firm-developing-high-speed-cables\/96127358","category_name":null,"category_name_seo":"telecomnews"}],"related_content":[],"msid":96134708,"entity_type":"ARTICLE","title":"Biden faces uphill battle in spat with Microsoft over Activision deal","synopsis":"The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which enforces antitrust law, asked a judge to block the transaction on Thursday, arguing that the merger would allow Microsoft's Xbox to get exclusive access to Activision games, leaving Nintendo consoles and Sony's PlayStation out in the cold.","titleseo":"telecomnews\/biden-faces-uphill-battle-in-spat-with-microsoft-over-activision-deal","status":"ACTIVE","authors":[],"analytics":{"comments":0,"views":137,"shares":0,"engagementtimems":495000},"Alttitle":{"minfo":""},"artag":"Reuters","artdate":"2022-12-10 18:36:46","lastupd":"2022-12-10 18:45:53","breadcrumbTags":["microsoft","ftc","biden","Activision","Microsoft Activision deal","Federal Trade Commission","Enterprise Services","Call of Duty","Nintendo","Sony PlayStation"],"secinfo":{"seolocation":"telecomnews\/biden-faces-uphill-battle-in-spat-with-microsoft-over-activision-deal"}}" data-authors="[" "]" data-category-name="" data-category_id="" data-date="2022-12-10" data-index="article_1">
- Telecom乐动扑克News
- 3分钟阅读
拜登在争吵与微软面临艰苦的战斗动视交易
美国联邦贸易委员会(FTC)执行反托拉斯法,要求法官周四阻止该交易,认为合并将使微软的Xbox独占访问动视暴雪游戏,让任天堂和索尼的PlayStation游戏机冷落。
读到由黛安·巴茨
华盛顿:拜登政府可能难以说服法官停止微软集团以690亿美元收购”使命的召唤“制造商动视暴雪,因为提供的自愿让步科技巨头消除可能主导游戏市场担忧,反垄断专家说。
的联邦贸易委员会(联邦贸易委员会),执行反托拉斯法,要求法官周四阻止该交易,认为合并将允许微软Xbox的独占访问动视暴雪游戏,离开任天堂和索尼的PlayStation游戏机冷落。
的拜登政府试图重振反垄断执法,联邦贸易委员会和司法部挑战更多的交易比最近的前辈在不同的行业,如出版、各种医学领域,国防和国内硬件。
微软昨日表示,它相信的情况下,试图接近历史上最大的游戏产业交易迅速扩大其投资组合的流行游戏和赶上更大的竞争对手。
微软提出的修正,包括10年承诺提供“使命的召唤”,其广受欢迎的第一人称射击游戏系列,任天堂有限公司平台和索尼的PlayStation,给公司一个很好的机会赢得联邦贸易委员会法官将听到的情况下,律师说。
“法律先例并不在联邦贸易委员会,”安德烈巴洛说,反垄断律师在柯南道尔,巴洛& Mazard事务所。“我们至少有三名法官合并各方接受的补救措施,”他补充道。
巴洛指出,三个最近的并购受到联邦贸易委员会和司法部,最终被允许继续下去。在所有三个案例中,联合健康集团收购改变卫生保健,AT&T收购时代华纳和圣杯Illumina公司的收购,买方提供补救措施,旨在削弱反垄断担忧。
这些案例分享一些其他的微软与拟议中的交易:在每个实例中,公司会与供应商合并在一个所谓的“垂直”合并。法官倾向于认为此类交易更顺利地“横向”合并,公司试图挖竞争对手的,专家说。
“垂直合并挑战真的很难赢得联邦贸易委员会这将是一场艰苦的战斗,”罗杰·阿尔弗德说,在圣母大学的教授法。
Wedbush证券分析师Michael Pachter说,在一份报告中,美国联邦贸易委员会为缓解反垄断诉讼给微软一个路线图提供进一步的让步:它可能同意提供动视暴雪游戏的竞争对手同样的价格,质量和发布日期为Xbox。
美国不是唯一的游戏
但即使微软可以战胜联邦贸易委员会在美国法院,它仍然必须满足怀疑欧洲监管机构。
“事实上,联邦贸易委员会正在运行的事务”将会鼓励欧盟,前美国联邦贸易委员会主席William Kovacic表示现在在乔治华盛顿大学法学院任教。
在起诉书中,联邦贸易委员会表示,微软曾告诉欧洲监管机构说,他们没有动力去制作游戏从2021年ZeniMax收购独家然后用一些游戏。
据路透社报道,上个月,微软预计将在未来几周内提供补救措施,欧盟反垄断监管机构避免正式反对这笔交易。欧盟委员会的最后期限制定下月正式的竞争问题。
“有一种强烈的可能性,欧盟将禁止合并,他们不需要去法院,”赛斯说开花的开花战略顾问。
评论
现在评论 阅读评论(1)所有评论
找到这个评论进攻?
下面选择你的理由并单击submit按钮。这将提醒我们的版主采取行动