The Federal Trade Commission will determine if Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard breaks antitrust laws
Microsoft’s agreed acquisition of Activision Blizzard is to be subject to an antitrust review by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC will lead the investigation to determine whether the proposed deal will substantially undermine market competition, Bloomberg reports, citing a source familiar with the matter. Typically, the FTC or US Department of Justice will review acquisitions that are valued over a certain threshold. Deals are assigned to each agency on a case-by-case basis, depending on their expertise in the relevant industry. However, the FTC’s involvement in the acquisition is particularly noteworthy because FTC chair Lina Khan has been an outspoken critic of tech giants and corporate consolidation. Khan has previously argued the need to break up and rein in Big Tech companies, such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Apple.
