Microsoft Activision Blizzard Acquisition Was Unconditionally Approved in South Africa

The Microsoft Activision Blizzard was approved today by the Competition Tribunal of South Africa, an approval that brings the company closer to acquiring the publisher of so many popular games.

Today, the aforementioned Competition Tribunal of South Africa confirmed on its official website that it has unconditionally approved Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Call of Duty publisher. The Tribunal’s reasons for its decision will be revealed at a later time.

The Competition Tribunal (“Tribunal”) has unconditionally approved the proposed merger, which is a global transaction, whereby Anchorage Merger Sub Inc. (“Anchorage”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation (“Microsoft”) intends to acquire Activision Blizzard, Inc. (“Activision”).

The Tribunal’s reasons for its decision will be issued in due course.

While the deal is getting approved by more and more regulators, the acquisition is far from being a done deal as of now. The UK’s CMA blocked the acquisition due to concerns regarding the cloud gaming market, as Activision Blizzard releases some of the most popular gaming franchises ever and would have no reason to release them for cloud gaming services other than Microsoft’s, potentially harming competition.

The Microsoft Activision Blizzard deal was also temporarily blocked last month following a motion from the FTC in the United States. With the trial still ongoing, it will be a while until this story will finally come to an end.