Yesterday saw Microsoft's proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard given regulatory approval by the EU Commission. That's one major stumbling block out of the way, but Microsoft still faces an uphill battle in the UK and US (and other territories) to get the deal approved. In the UK's case the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) dropped the bombshell several weeks ago that it would block the deal, which Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are extremely unhappy about.
In the immediate aftermath of this decision, various executives from both companies tore at their garments while bemoaning their "darkest day" in the UK, issuing dire warnings about the country "not being open for business" and so on. In a way that's just chest-beating corporate talk from people who all stand to make a lot of money if the deal does go through, but it's also clearly made an impression on some members of parliament. The UK is currently governed by the Conservative party, which represents the traditionally pro-business right wing, but the Business and Trade Committee (BTC) has MPs from all parties, and its role is to scrutinise government.
