Analyst Note
| Neil Macker |The U.K. regulator gave its preliminary approval of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard on Sept. 22. The preliminary approval is based on the restructured deal under which Ubisoft will control the cloud streaming rights to Activision Blizzard games outside of the EU for the next 15 years. Since the deal changes were likely previewed with the Competition and Markets Authority prior to being announced, the preliminary approval is not surprising but still welcomed. We expect that the CMA will provide its final stamp of approval prior to the Oct. 18 merger deadline but after the comment period closing on Oct. 6.