The United Kingdom’s Consumer and Electronics Market (CMA) has recently made the decision to block the highly controversial Activision Blizzard deal that would merge it with Microsoft. The deal in and of itself has faced huge scrutiny from multiple angles on several territories. However, the reason behind the block of the deal has been put into question by the UK tech sector, with several entrepreneurs and investors talking about the severity of this decision.
It’s reported by the Financial Times that the Activision Blizzard deal blocked by the CMA was a sign that the country’s status as Europe’s leading tech hub was slipping. Ophelia Brown, the founder of Blossom Capital, has stated that this decision by the CMA was “More bad PR for the UK” and that the decision “does the reverse in terms of encouraging innovation.”
Another UK entity spoke out on Tuesday, this time in the form of Deliveroo founder Will Shu who chastized the CMA over its 18-month inquiry into Amazon’s $500m purchase of shares in the aforementioned platform. While the deal was eventually cleared, Will stated that the process was less than pleasant. He was “being treated like a criminal” and “had to testify in front of panels,” ending with the statement that the CMA was trying to kill companies.
As you might expect from something that has reached this level, this has also extended into the political segment, with entities within the UK tech scene stating that the decision and other government policies have begun to stifle the sector. “We are seeing a distinct lack of support for high-growth businesses,” said John Ryan, chief executive and co-founder of SymTerra.
Of course, Microsoft has already started to take its first steps to appeal against the decision by the CMA. Not too long ago, we saw a message from the company President addressed to the Prime Minister, stating that the government should take a hard look at the role of the Competition and Markets Authority. Additionally, the gaming sector that the CMA was seemingly aiming to protect (cloud gaming) started lashing back against the government body, disagreeing with the decision to block the merger.
The backlash against the CMA’s decision has started to become quite extraordinary. Still, we will keep you updated on developments regarding this and other news surrounding the deal. Do you think the deal will ultimately go through? Let us know in the comments.
