Saudi Arabia has become the first country to recognize and approve of Microsoft’s upcoming acquisition of Activision Blizzard – the biggest ever business deal in the games industry at $68.7 billion.
If a country fails to approve a merger, it scuppers the company’s ability to conduct business within that territory. Although in most cases this does little to prevent a merger or acquisition from completing, in some cases – such as if too many countries or a key market refuse to approve a deal – it can lead to plans being abandoned.
Saudi Arabia’s competition authority has approved Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. It’s the first of many to come that will be needed for the $68.7 billion deal to close https://t.co/mVMJqPi2GE
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) August 21, 2022
The approval is the first of many necessary for the deal to be completed successfully.
“The General Authority for Competition announces that it has no objection to completing the merger process between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard,” said the Saudi Arabian government in a statement.
Saudi Arabia is set to gain over $1 billion through the deal due to the country’s Public Investment Fund‘s (PIF) stake in the company. As of September, the PIF owned 37.9 million shares in Activision.
Activision Blizzard has faced criticism in recent years due to allegations of sexual harassment within the company, which led to them paying $18 million to affected employees. Microsoft have promised to address the issue and make relevant changes in order to foster a more equitable workplace environment.
Last year, we listed Activision Blizzard as one of the top 50 mobile game makers. We’ll be announcing our list for 2022 tomorrow.
