While Microsoft is fighting a tough battle against the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC), preparations are also underway in the United Kingdom to overturn the opposition of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). However, important information emerged from Europe amid the hearings taking place on this side of the world.
CMA wanted to postpone the hearing with Microsoft, but the request was rejected by the Court
According to a report from Gamesindustry.biz, unexpectedly, the CMA made a request to the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal to delay the hearing where they will face Microsoft regarding the blocking of the Activision Blizzard acquisition. Unfortunately for the regulator, the Court's response was negative as the request was rejected, so the initial hearing will take place on July 28. The CMA's objective was to extend the hearing until October, apparently due to some relevant situation in their legal team, but the authority responded that the case cannot be delayed due to its importance.
UK court blocks request to delay CMA and Microsoft trialhttps://t.co/xn0qGnLzgu
— GamesIndustry (@GIBiz) June 29, 2023
Regarding this matter, the UK Tribunal stated: "The matter is significant and there is a considerable amount of material for any new counsel to deal with, but we anticipate that one month allows sufficient time for that to occur, provided the CMA selects counsel with the appropriate availability to prepare, particularly given the support available within its existing legal team. The question answers itself because this is a team that should have sufficient time to ensure that the CMA's defense to the application is properly conducted."
CMA made headlines last April with the announcement of the blockage of the Activision Blizzard acquisition, citing concerns about Microsoft's position and advantage in the cloud. The decision caused a scandal, and even the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, criticized it and called on Parliament to modify the scope of the regulator as they would be missing out on a significant deal in the world of technology. The situation became more tense after the European Commission approved the Microsoft | Activision Blizzard merger with some commitments to prevent harm to the industry, the market, and its competitors.
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