Microsoft said to have responded to FTC's second request in Activision deal
Rich Polk


Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is said to have responded to the Federal Trade Commission's second request in its planed $69 billion purchase of video-game giant Activision (NASDAQ:ATVI). ATVI ticked up almost 1%.

Microsoft (MSFT) certified substantial compliance with the FTC in regards to ATVI several weeks ago, according to a Dealreporter item, which cited sources familiar.

The update on the U.S. antitrust review comes as the near $70B deal between Microsoft (MSFT) and Activision (ATVI) is under scrutiny as the U.K.'s antitrust regulatory last week opened an inquiry into the deal to see if it will impact rivals.
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.