Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have extended their merger agreement to October 18 as they negotiate with U.K. antitrust regulators.

 

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have extended their merger agreement to October 18 as they negotiate with U.K. antitrust regulators.  The companies had originally planned to close the deal by Tuesday, June 18. If the $69B acquisition had fallen through, Microsoft would have had to pay a breakup fee of $3B.  On Tuesday, the companies struck a new deal that bumps up the termination fee to $3.5B if the acquisition is not closed by August 29 and $4.5B if not finalized by September 15. The UK's antitrust regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority, initially blocked the merger in April but is now reviewing Microsoft's new proposal that aims to address cloud gaming concerns. The CMA said it will issue a final order by August 29. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission also sought to block the merger but was denied in court. Should Microsoft overcome the remaining hurdle and complete the deal, it would become the biggest video game acquisition ever, providing a significant boost to its gaming business driven by Xbox.