European regulator said to inquire whether rivals would be shut out of Activision/Microsoft deal
Rich Polk
Europe's antitrust regulator is said to be asking whether Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) planned $69 billion purchase of Activision (NASDAQ:ATVI) may shut out rivals.
The European Commission has circulated questionnaires to competitors in early July and officials has been having conversation with Microsoft (MSFT) rivals to find out their issues with the combination, according to a Politico Pro report from earlier on Friday.
The regulator is specifically looking for information on the accessibility of Game Pass, Microsoft's (MSFT) video game subscription service for Sony (SONY) Xbox and PC users, on rival platforms, if a deal were consummated, the report said.
Competitors have also expressed their worries over Microsoft (MSFT) limiting access to some of Activision's (ATVI) titles such as "Call of Duty," Politico Pro said. 
The report comes after U.K.'s antitrust regulatory earlier this month opened an inquiry into the deal to see if it will impact rivals. The Competition and Markets Authority set an initial deadline of Sept. 1 to see if it will conduct a further, in-depth investigation.
Last Friday Dealreporter said Microsoft (MSFT) is said to have responded to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's second request in the ATVI deal. MSFT certified substantial compliance with the FTC in regards to ATVI several weeks ago.
Activision (ATVI) shares trade at a significant discount to Microsoft's (MSFT) offer of $95/share in cash, indicating some doubt in the market about antitrust approval for the transaction, especially as the U.S. FTC is heavily scrutinizing big tech under the Biden administration.
In February, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B.) took a 14.7M share stake in Activision (ATVI) due to the discount.