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Microsoft is appealing against the Competition and Markets
Authority's (CMA) decision to veto the deal, which it did in April on the
grounds it could hurt competition in the nascent cloud gaming market.
The shock decision jeopardises gaming's biggest-ever deal
and drew a furious response from the companies, which questioned whether
Britain remained open to tech firms.
Activision has now been given permission to intervene in
Microsoft's appeal at the Competition Appeal Tribunal, which is expected to be
heard next month. That means Activision will also be able to make their case to
the tribunal.
At a preliminary hearing in May, Microsoft's lawyers accused
the CMA of being a global "outlier" for blocking the Activision
takeover, which has been approved by regulators including the European Union's
competition authority.
The US Federal Trade Commission has also blocked the deal, a
decision which is under appeal by Microsoft.
Microsoft's president Brad Smith, who met Britain's finance
minister for talks on Tuesday, said earlier this week that the company wants to
address regulators' concerns about the Activision acquisition.
Earlier this month, the president of Microsoft said he was
looking for solutions to try to get British approval for the software giant's
acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
"I'm in search of solutions," Microsoft President
Brad Smith told the techUK Tech Policy Leadership conference in London last
Tuesday.
"If regulators have concerns, we want to address them.
If there are problems, we want to solve them. If the UK wants to impose
regulatory requirements that go beyond those in the EU, we want to find ways to
fulfil them."
He declined to comment on any meeting with the British
government following the CMA's veto on the deal which Smith had previously
warned would shake confidence in the UK as a destination for tech businesses.
In May, Microsoft launched a challenge against Britain's
decision to block its takeover of Activision Blizzard on the grounds of
"fundamental errors" in the assessment of Microsoft's cloud gaming
services. © Reuters