Having been frustrated in its $69 billion dollar bid to acquire Activision Blizzard in the UK, Microsoft's president, Brad Smith, is scheduled to meet with UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt this week to plead the company's case in person. This follows the EU's acquiescence to the deal, a matter to which the UK's regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority, was quick to respond.
That's according to a new Bloomberg report (thanks, VGC), with Microsoft confirming that Smith will be in London, giving a scheduled talk on "the potential of AI and the need for thoughtful regulation of it.”
Further, private discussion on the matter of "the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard" will take place. The meeting could well prove to be a contentious one, as Hunt has previously publicly criticized the CMA for its decision, going so far as to state that the EU was the better place to do business.
Microsoft's threatening posture is designed to intimidate, as it makes it known that "extreme" options, such as withdrawing Activision Blizzard from the UK market or bypassing the UK entirely and forging ahead with the deal without it. As VGC points out, at least in theory, even if Activision were to shut up shop and move to another European country, a distributor would still be able to sell their games in the UK. So it's an option but a double-edged one, denying the company a massive market in the process.