Microsoft UK is requesting a two-month appeal pause over the Activision deal

LONDON (Reuters) – Microsoft (MSFT.O) on Monday asked a London court to stay its appeal against Britain blocking its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) to give the parties more time to resolve the dispute. .

Britain’s competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), in April became the first major regulator to block a takeover of the “Call of Duty” maker, citing concerns about the impact on competition in cloud gaming.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also opposed the tie-up, but suffered a major defeat last week when a federal court denied the FTC’s request to pause the deal.

In Britain, the CMA’s final report is usually the last word. Companies cannot file damages after they are published and their only recourse is in the Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT).

But last week, less than an hour after a US federal court ruled the deal could go ahead, the Capital Markets Authority said it might again consider an amended proposal. It later said a restructured deal might satisfy its concerns, subject to a new investigation.

All parties filed for a two-month stay on the case in the CAT, which CMA attorneys said in court filings would “allow CMA and the parties to engage quickly and constructively with respect to Microsoft’s proposals.”

Microsoft lawyers said in court filings that the CMA is the “primary impediment” to concluding the deal and pausing the case would allow all parties to try to find a solution.

However, Judge Marcus Smith said he wanted to hear from lawyers about whether there was a “sound legal basis” for the CMA to consider an amended deal.

The judge also asked if the FTC’s first defeat in the United States was taken into account by the CMA.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin) Editing by Josie Kao

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