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[Topher]

Didn't "quash" anything. Meta had seven grounds for "quashing" and the Tribunal rejected all but one.

"The ruling effectively means that the CMA's decision that it published in November 2021, ordering Facebook (now rebranded as Meta) to sell Giphy, is on pause, with the order now "provisional", and again set to be reassessed after Meta's lawyers are giving more documentation pertaining to the case to resubmit their own case."

"The recent judgment from the Competition Appeal Tribunal endorsed the CMA's approach to reviewing mergers that may harm innovation," a CMA spokesperson said in a statement to TechCrunch. "The CMA won on 5 of 6 grounds, with Meta winning 1 in relation to our process of sharing confidential information. We have agreed to reconsider our decision in light of this finding. We will commence our review shortly and will seek to complete the remittal within three months of today's order."

Meta's Giphy deal lives to fight another day

Facebook parent Meta's been putting up a strong fight appealing the U.K. antitrust decision investigating and ultimately ordering Meta to sell Giphy, the

techcrunch.com

In any case, what this shows us is that the Tribunal will look extremely hard at what the CMA presents and by no means do they give the CMA any leeway. They have to prove their findings to the Tribunal convincingly. Just as I've said before. My only reason for posting that the previous post cherry-picked a case that did not turn out favorably for the CMA.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

I doubt the UK CMA will block Windows, outlook, Azure servers, productivity apps/suite, etc. A lot of the tech spaces that Microsoft competes in there is only one competitor or even none basically.

That would really hurt consumers, UK businesses, and the overall economy. UK economy is already in a crisis as it is and don't need more job losses or higher inflation.

It'd be disastrous for both parties. Neither are going to resort to it

 

[bluecowboys]

Don't worry darling. Not even Dr. Strange could see a universe in which this deal is not approved.

I don't believe this will be blocked either. What I'm saying is that UK has no leverage over Microsoft to stop them. What are they going to do? Block Microsoft from selling their products in the UK?

Have fun with Apple's expensive computers and the laughable google chrome book being your main choices.

I hope you like Amazon controlling your internet infrastructure with AWS and having basically no other competitor.

No Xbox? Have fun with Sony raising the price of the PS5 and it's games.... again. Not to mention no more windows PC gaming so even less options.

I could go on, but I believe we all get the point. There is no leverage UK CMA will have over Microsoft. In fact, I wouldn't be surprise if UK defense systems relies on Microsoft products. Not a good time to let your defense down when Russia is going crazy right now.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Didn't "quash" anything. Meta had seven grounds for "quashing" and the Tribunal rejected all but one.

"The ruling effectively means that the CMA's decision that it published in November 2021, ordering Facebook (now rebranded as Meta) to sell Giphy, is on pause, with the order now "provisional", and again set to be reassessed after Meta's lawyers are giving more documentation pertaining to the case to resubmit their own case."

"The recent judgment from the Competition Appeal Tribunal endorsed the CMA's approach to reviewing mergers that may harm innovation," a CMA spokesperson said in a statement to TechCrunch. "The CMA won on 5 of 6 grounds, with Meta winning 1 in relation to our process of sharing confidential information. We have agreed to reconsider our decision in light of this finding. We will commence our review shortly and will seek to complete the remittal within three months of today's order."

http://[URL]https://techcrunch.com/...nal-blocks-forced-sale-on-disclosure-grounds/

[/URL]

In any case, what this shows us is that the Tribunal will look extremely hard at what the CMA presents and by no means do they give the CMA any leeway. They have to prove their findings to the Tribunal convincingly. Just as I've said before. My only reason for posting that the previous post cherry-picked a case that did not turn out favorably for the CMA.

 

[bluecowboys]

It'd be disastrous for both parties. Neither are going to resort to it

Exactly, so how can the CMA block Microsoft when their Country depends on them?

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I don't believe this will be blocked either. What I'm saying is that UK has no leverage over Microsoft to stop them. What are they going to do? Block Microsoft from selling their products in the UK?

Have fun with Apple's expensive computers and the laughable google chrome book being your main choices.

I hope you like Amazon controlling your internet infrastructure with AWS and having basically no other competitor.

No Xbox? Have fun with Sony raising the price of the PS5 and it's games.... again. Not to mention no more windows PC gaming so even less options.

I could go on, but I believe we all get the point. There is no leverage UK CMA will have over Microsoft. In fact, I wouldn't be surprise if UK defense systems relies on Microsoft products. Not a good time to let your defense down when Russia is going crazy right now.

It just nonsense to even think about it. You could have a wet dream if you choose either way.

The only interesting aspect of this could be (we, as mere spectators) to see some charts with actual receipts. (Just like the Brazilian ones) but applied to US/UK/EU.

 

[Topher]

I don't believe this will be blocked either. What I'm saying is that UK has no leverage over Microsoft to stop them. What are they going to do? Block Microsoft from selling their products in the UK?

Have fun with Apple's expensive computers and the laughable google chrome book being your main choices.

I hope you like Amazon controlling your internet infrastructure with AWS and having basically no other competitor.

No Xbox? Have fun with Sony raising the price of the PS5 and it's games.... again. Not to mention no more windows PC gaming so even less options.

I could go on, but I believe we all get the point. There is no leverage UK CMA will have over Microsoft. In fact, I wouldn't be surprise if UK defense systems relies on Microsoft products. Not a good time to let your defense down when Russia is going crazy right now.

UK has plenty of leverage here. You think Microsoft is going to risk abandoning the UK market for this acquisition? And the UK isn't going to bow to a corporation either. Microsoft does not have the United Kingdom over a barrel here.

Uh...yeah, that's all in the article I quoted.

 

[Topher]

Exactly, so how can the CMA block Microsoft when their Country depends on them?

Do you really believe that if the deal is rejected in the UK that Microsoft is going to respond with "What are you going to do about it?"

Seriously?

 

[Gone]

Axios reporter.

Who the fuck is stopping Sony from doing a Gamepass copy competitor?

Is Microsoft not allowed to make its different product better because Sony and others can't do something like it? Where's the logic in that shit?

 

[bluecowboys]

UK has plenty of leverage here. You think Microsoft is going to risk abandoning the UK market for this acquisition? And the UK isn't going to bow to a corporation either. Microsoft does not have the United Kingdom over a barrel here.



Uh...yeah, that's all in the article I quoted.

What leverage? UK is already facing economic hardships and can't afford to lose jobs especially with a recession around the corner. Not to mention they will be bowing down to a lot of corporations since Microsoft leaving will cause monopolies in so many industries. Consoles, Search engines, Personal computers, Cloud services, productivity software, etc.

 

[adamsapple]

Who the fuck is stopping Sony from doing a Gamepass copy competitor?

Is Microsoft not allowed to make its different product better because Sony and others can't do something like it? Where's the logic in that shit?

Isn't that what their rebrand and merging of the services already is anyway ?

 

[Topher]

What leverage? UK is already facing economic hardships and can't afford to lose jobs especially with a recession around the corner. Not to mention they will be bowing down to a lot of corporations since Microsoft leaving will cause monopolies in so many industries. Consoles, Search engines, Personal computers, Cloud services, productivity software, etc.

Microsoft isn't about to take all their business out of the United Kingdom over Activision Blizzard. That's a fairy tale.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

What leverage? UK is already facing economic hardships and can't afford to lose jobs especially with a recession around the corner. Not to mention they will be bowing down to a lot of corporations since Microsoft leaving will cause monopolies in so many industries. Consoles, Search engines, Personal computers, Cloud services, productivity software, etc.

Does Microsoft not want to operate in the UK or something? Yes they have leverage lmao

 

[Gone]

Isn't that what their rebrand and merging of the services already is anyway ?

It is, but it's also worse and it has less value to gamers since it doesn't have first party games day and date.
You have to pay Sony 70$ for each one of those..

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Who the fuck is stopping Sony from doing a Gamepass copy competitor?

 

[bluecowboys]

Do you really believe that if the deal is rejected in the UK that Microsoft is going to respond with "What are you going to do about it?"

Seriously?

Why not, what are they going to do about it? First Microsoft will go to court and probably win. UK CMA can't block deals directly only indirectly by fines or blocking products. Blocking Microsoft and it's products/services will basically destroy the UK so that isn't going to happen.

According to one of the lawyers in a youtube video that was posted in this thread, some companies at worse gets fined. However, the fine isn't much compared to the profits if the merger goes through so the company accepts the fine and still operate.

 

[Topher]

Why not, what are they going to do about it?

I'm done

 

[DeepEnigma]

Why not, what are they going to do about it? First Microsoft will go to court and probably win. UK CMA can't block deals directly only indirectly by fines or blocking products. Blocking Microsoft and it's products/services will basically destroy the UK so that isn't going to happen.

According to one of the lawyers in a youtube video that was posted in this thread, some companies at worse gets fined. However, the fine isn't much compared to the profits if the merger goes through so the company accepts the fine and still operate.

Who's alt are you?

 

[poppabk]

Here whe go again....getting exclusive deals for one year is not the same as buying complete publishers with the endgoal to put all theyr games on GamePass and take them away from Sony and perhaps from Steam cous i dont think that Steam wants Gamepass on they'r service. Thats called moneyhatting.

And MS have making does deals to, and they could also be making more deals with developers for one year exclusive games on Xbox in the last two years.
But they are to bussy to trying to get developers placing theyr games on GamePass...day one.

Gamepass is already on PC. It is literally a PC platform.

 

[THE DUCK]

Approval is inevitable, not sure why we even have the thread, just come back in 6 months and she should be all done.
As to Sony's reasons for the deal being uncompetitive, if they are valid, then Sony shouldn't be allowed buy any company ever since they are the market leader and it would be unfair. LOL

 

[Gone]

Yeah because selling 31 million copies of Spiderman or having 47 million ps plus subscribers don't give you enough revenue to do that.. what a load of bullshit.

Microsoft has a better product with better value to customers and the CMA concern is what? Sony can't (which should be WON'T) do a subscription service to compete with Gamepass?

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

because selling 31 million copies of Spiderman or having 47 million ps plus subscribers don't give you enough revenue to do that.. what a load of bullshit.

Microsoft has a better product with better value to customers and the CMA concern is what? Sony can't (which should be WON'T) do a subscription service to compete with Gamepass?

Are you actually mad?

 

[Topher]

Who's alt are you?

What gave you that idea?

 

[DeepEnigma]

What gave you that idea?

 

[bluecowboys]

Does Microsoft not want to operate in the UK or something? Yes they have leverage lmao

Not if they try to block the deal. Which I don't believe will be blocked. This is all hypothetical.

According to this article https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/06/microsoft_uk_figures/ UK made Microsoft over 4 billion pounds in revenue for the fiscal year of 2021.

Activision and Blizzard made around 8 billion dollars (around 7 billion pounds) in revenue for 2021.

The Activision and Blizzard deal from face value seems more valuable to Microsoft than doing business with UK. Especially since Microsoft could utilize Blizzard and Activision to make even more profits/revenue by selling subscriptions, reducing the cost of making the games, and more.

 

[ManaByte]

Who's alt are you?

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Not if they try to block the deal. Which I don't believe will be blocked. This is all hypothetical.

According to this article https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/06/microsoft_uk_figures/ UK made Microsoft over 4 billion pounds in revenue for the fiscal year of 2021.

Activision and Blizzard made around 8 billion dollars (around 7 billion pounds) in revenue for 2021.

The Activision and Blizzard deal from face value seems more valuable to Microsoft than doing business with UK. Especially since Microsoft could utilize Blizzard and Activision to make even more profits/revenue by selling subscriptions, reducing the cost of making the games, and more.

Sure, if this was just a game of who brings in more revenue, but ending business with the fucking UK is more than just a matter of revenue lmao

 

[DeepEnigma]

Sure, if this was just a game of who brings in more revenue, but ending business with the fucking UK is more than just a matter of revenue lmao

The takes in here man, the takes

 

[In Cold Blood]

The CMA cannot stop the deal from going through.
Both Activision and Microsoft are US companies, and so in reality if the US government approves it then that's all that is required.
Both Australia and New Zealand are also doing investigations into the deal, so does anyone think that either of those companies can stop it as well? What about Fiji? If they say no it doesn't go through?
These organisations have their investigations and put forward concerns they have for those companies to address.
Nothing more, nothing less.
If Activision was a UK company then yes they can stop it.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Bruh!

 

[GHG]

The CMA cannot stop the deal from going through.
Both Activision and Microsoft are US companies, and so in reality if the US government approves it then that's all that is required.
Both Australia and New Zealand are also doing investigations into the deal, so does anyone think that either of those companies can stop it as well? What about Fiji? If they say no it doesn't go through?
These organisations have their investigations and put forward concerns they have for those companies to address.
Nothing more, nothing less.
If Activision was a UK company then yes they can stop it.

Why are you writing paragraphs about something you clearly haven't even bothered to do the slightest bit of research on (no, twitter doesn't count)?

UK watchdog wants deeper probe into Microsoft's $69-bln Activision deal

Britain's antitrust watchdog said on Thursday it would launch an in-depth probe into Xbox maker Microsoft's $69-billion purchase of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard after the tech giant failed to offer remedies to soothe competition concerns.

www.reuters.com

The deal, announced in January, will require approval in the United States as well as other major jurisdictions including the European Union and China

In addition to the UK those are the places the deal needs approval in.

If you want to make this some US only affair that only involves the FTC then write to Microsoft and ask them to pull out of international markets, let us know how they respond.

 

[adamsapple]

 

[Topher]

The CMA cannot stop the deal from going through.
Both Activision and Microsoft are US companies, and so in reality if the US government approves it then that's all that is required.
Both Australia and New Zealand are also doing investigations into the deal, so does anyone think that either of those companies can stop it as well? What about Fiji? If they say no it doesn't go through?
These organisations have their investigations and put forward concerns they have for those companies to address.
Nothing more, nothing less.
If Activision was a UK company then yes they can stop it.

Next time you are in the UK, rob a bank and tell them you are an American. See what that gets you. Same damn thing, dude.

Microsoft operates in the UK. They must follow UK laws. If they don't want to then they can leave. Just like you don't have to live in the UK since they don't let anyone, including Americans, rob banks.

The thing is.....Microsoft ain't leaving UK to get Activision Blizzard. Just not happening.

 

[R3claimer117]

Jesus I can't wait for this deal to go through so we can stop having to read the amount of uniformed nonsense in this thread. The CMA is posturing and if this deal is approved by the EU commission on November 8th and the FTC by the end of the year and it's only the CMA standing on this hill of wanting to protect the market leader I wonder how much political pressure is going to be on who ever is doing this probe of the deal.

 

[In Cold Blood]

Next time you are in the UK, rob a bank and tell them you are an American. See what that gets you. Same damn thing, dude.

Microsoft operates in the UK. They must follow UK laws. If they don't want to then they can leave. Just like you don't have to live in the UK since they don't let anyone, including Americans, rob banks.

The thing is.....Microsoft ain't leaving UK to get Activision Blizzard. Just not happening.

That's about as stupid an analogy as I have read.
The UK isn't going to ban Microsoft from being in the UK. That's retarded talk.
So by your logic Fiji can stop the acquisition as well? Every single country has the ability to stop it?
They are both US companies and if the US allows it there's nothing the UK can do.
They have these investigations to see how it might effect their citizens and they put those concerns to MS. New Zealand is doing the same thing. Can New Zealand stop it? No, no they can't.

 

[bluecowboys]

Sure, if this was just a game of who brings in more revenue, but ending business with the fucking UK is more than just a matter of revenue lmao

You're right, this is also about profit. And the profit Microsoft would make from Activision and Blizzard is bigger than the profit they would make in the U.K. Besides, UK economy is going down the gutter and banning Microsoft products will be the final nail in the coffin.

 

[In Cold Blood]

Why are you writing paragraphs about something you clearly haven't even bothered to do the slightest bit of research on (no, twitter doesn't count)?

UK watchdog wants deeper probe into Microsoft's $69-bln Activision deal

Britain's antitrust watchdog said on Thursday it would launch an in-depth probe into Xbox maker Microsoft's $69-billion purchase of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard after the tech giant failed to offer remedies to soothe competition concerns.

www.reuters.com

In addition to the UK those are the places the deal needs approval in.

If you want to make this some US only affair that only involves the FTC then write to Microsoft and ask them to pull out of international markets, let us know how they respond.

You have no idea.
What do you think the UK can do if they don't want one US company to buy another?
Are they going to ban MS? Every UK PC is going to have to stop using Windows and Word? Excel?
That's stupid talk.
Tell me why the UK can stop it but Australia can't? Or do you think Australia can?
Show me the list of countries that have the power to stop two companies from another country from buying each other?
Every single case that the CMA has stopped an acquisition (Like ARM by Nvidia) has involved a UK or two UK companies.

 

[Topher]

That's about as stupid an analogy as I have read.
The UK isn't going to ban Microsoft from being in the UK. That's retarded talk.
So by your logic Fiji can stop the acquisition as well? Every single country has the ability to stop it?
They are both US companies and if the US allows it there's nothing the UK can do.
They have these investigations to see how it might effect their citizens and they put those concerns to MS. New Zealand is doing the same thing. Can New Zealand stop it? No, no they can't.

Ok....flip the argument. Do you really believe Microsoft can flatly ignore the laws of the United Kingdom and still operate there? You do realize that is the other side of the coin, right? Microsoft can ignore the laws of the every country outside the United States? If I'm going to call something stupid, it is that line of thinking. Just absurd.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Ok....flip the argument. Do you really believe Microsoft can flatly ignore the laws of the United Kingdom and still operate there? You do realize that is the other side of the coin, right? Microsoft can ignore the laws of the every country outside the United States? If I'm going to call something stupid, it is that line of thinking. Just absurd.

It's a reflection of some people's mentality in current year society, really.

 

[Topher]

It's a reflection of some people's mentality in current year society, really.

I need to start a company here in the US and then move abroad. Apparently I can then do whatever the hell I want. Murica!

and I'm bringing my guns too

 

[poppabk]

Ok....flip the argument. Do you really believe Microsoft can flatly ignore the laws of the United Kingdom and still operate there? You do realize that is the other side of the coin, right? Microsoft can ignore the laws of the every country outside the United States? If I'm going to call something stupid, it is that line of thinking. Just absurd.

Uber got to be a billion dollar company by ignoring the laws of every country including the US. But yeah MS can't afford to flout the laws of the UK, the real question is how much bite do the regulators really have and how well can MS neuter them in court.

 

[Topher]

Uber got to be a billion dollar company by ignoring the laws of every country including the US. But yeah MS can't afford to flout the laws of the UK, the real question is how much bite do the regulators really have and how well can MS neuter them in court.

lol.....well, Microsoft isn't an upstart company flying under the radar like Uber, but yeah, good questions. Meta and Giphy is an interesting as an ongoing case as the CMA ordered Meta to sell Giphy and the Tribunal upheld everything submitted except some redacted items that they felt should have not been redacted and addressed directly by Meta. So those are some pretty sharp teeth I would say. I maintain that this will go through though. I don't like some of the arguments CMA has made and I think there is a hell of a lot Microsoft will be able to address with the Tribunal. I do think CMA will try to block it, however. I cannot see a path back to approval from their current position. They have gone all in.

 

[ReBurn]

lol.....well, Microsoft isn't an upstart company flying under the radar like Uber, but yeah, good questions. Meta and Giphy is an interesting as an ongoing case as the CMA ordered Meta to sell Giphy and the Tribunal upheld everything submitted except some redacted items that they felt should have not been redacted and addressed directly by Meta. So those are some pretty sharp teeth I would say. I maintain that this will go through though. I don't like some of the arguments CMA has made and I think there is a hell of a lot Microsoft will be able to address with the Tribunal. I do think CMA will try to block it, however. I cannot see a path back to approval from their current position. They have gone all in.

They have sharp teeth but a fairly weak jaw as they're not always able to hold on. Like you I believe that CMA will try to block it. I also think there's a better than average chance that CAT or the courts will overturn their decision. CMA is sometimes fairly sloppy in their process. If nothing else Microsoft can afford the best lawyers in the world to jump on any procedural issues.

 

[FalsettoVibe]

lol @ some in this thread thinking MS can do whatever they want because they're acquiring another US company.

 

[Topher]

They have sharp teeth but a fairly weak jaw as they're not always able to hold on. Like you I believe that CMA will try to block it. I also think there's a better than average chance that CAT or the courts will overturn their decision. CMA is sometimes fairly sloppy in their process. If nothing else Microsoft can afford the best lawyers in the world to jump on any procedural issues.

I agree. They can do real damage here even if some people want to stick their head in the sand and believe otherwise. The question is can they make it stick. I don't think they can.

 

[HoofHearted]

 

[bender]

It's a reflection of some people's mentality in current year society, really.

 

[Three]

Exactly, so how can the CMA block Microsoft when their Country depends on them?

So why wouldn't what you're saying apply to the US too? With this type of thinking you could say no MS merger would ever be blocked which is kind of ridiculous.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

That tells me they know xbox is stronger, otherwise they wouldn't point it out like this.

Not what she said

 

[Pelta88]

Not if they try to block the deal. Which I don't believe will be blocked. This is all hypothetical.

According to this article https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/06/microsoft_uk_figures/ UK made Microsoft over 4 billion pounds in revenue for the fiscal year of 2021.

Activision and Blizzard made around 8 billion dollars (around 7 billion pounds) in revenue for 2021.

The Activision and Blizzard deal from face value seems more valuable to Microsoft than doing business with UK. Especially since Microsoft could utilize Blizzard and Activision to make even more profits/revenue by selling subscriptions, reducing the cost of making the games, and more.

This type of nonsense gets me pissed off.

Firstly Mr Alt, the UK is a country, not a forum. As a country we don't get to touch Microsoft's revenue. By law, we're supposed to collect tax from Microsoft's profit but they have an army of lawyers (Barristers as we call them) to make sure they don't a penny in UK tax. In 2020 Microsoft made 2.4 billion in operating profit here. And when the UK tax man came to collect, Microsoft were like...

And told the UK taxman that the profit they made in the UK was really made in Bermuda.

Microsoft avoids paying tax in UK, others – study

LONDON: Microsoft Corp. has avoided billions in taxes in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, where it has lucrative public sector contracts, because of its complex...

www.manilatimes.net

Bottom line, the UK populace doesn't owe Microsoft shit!