Microsoft-Activision Antitrust Win Raises M&A Revival Hopes

  • Regulators’ courtroom defeats may remove obstacles to deals
  • The $69 billion deal poised to move ahead amid M&A drought
FTC Pauses Microsoft-Activision Merger In-House Trial
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Microsoft Corp.’s success fighting the Federal Trade Commission’s challenge to its $69 billion Activision Blizzard Inc. acquisition could ease the path to more deals at a time when Wall Street has been confronting a severe merger drought.

Stiffer enforcement by the FTC and Justice Department under the Biden administration has deterred a number of deals in recent years, but those regulators’ losing record in the courtroom will likely weaken that effect, experts said.