Saudi Arabia has become the first regulatory authority to approve the Activision Blizzard acquisition proposal from Microsoft. The decision comes as no surprise bearing in mind the country’s sovereign wealth fund is set to receive a massive boost from its investment in Activision Blizzard following the increase in share price once the acquisition deal goes through.
Unsurprisingly, Saudi Arabia has “no objection” to the deal
تعلن #الهيئة_العامة_للمنافسة عن عدم ممانعتها من إتمام عملية التركز الاقتصادي بين:
-مايكروسوفت كوربوريشن
-أكتيفيجن بليزارد إنك pic.twitter.com/lo5scC3F7k— الهيئة العامة للمنافسة (@SaudiGAC) August 21, 2022
While the official response to the approval process is likely to be far longer, the Saudi Arabia General Authority for Competition put out a Tweet that explained they had “no objection to completing the process of economic concentration” between Microsoft Corporation and Activision Blizzard, Inc, as spotted by Klobrille. They’re the first of the regulatory authorities to give an official verdict on the proposed deal, although more are expected to follow within the coming weeks. Other regulatory authorities yet to give their verdict include the European Commission, the US Federal Trade Commission, and the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK.
The deal comes as no surprise bearing in mind the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund owns about 37.9 million shares in Activision, or at least this was the official figure at the end of September 2021. When the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard acquisition deal was announced in January, these shares were valued at $2.5 billion. Microsoft has agreed to pay $95 cash value per share, which would mean the stake would then be worth $3.6 billion after the deal goes through. It’s a deal that the Saudi GAC evidently feels can’t be turned down, especially as the fund saw its stake seriously depreciate in value in just a few days following the share purchase.
In other gaming news, Ubisoft has denied rumors they are developing a new game in the Blade universe. Elsewhere, the Star Wars Jedi: Survivor release date has been hinted at by an upcoming tie-in novel.
