Microsoft president Brand Smith spoke during a brief interview on the BBC about the battle with the British competition authority CMA that happened last year over the $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
During the program (which can be listened to in full on the BBC’s website), the interviewer reminded Smith that he had some pretty strong words to say about the CMA when it originally blocked the deal and about Britain itself.
Asked whether he had any of his feelings about Britain as a place to do business and the regulator’s actions. Smith’s answer was quite conciliatory.
The short answer is yes. We start a new year and I think, certainly from my vantage point, having learned a lot from the year we just completed, […] I wouldn’t step back necessarily from all of the concerns I’ve raised when I talked way back in April, but’d choose slightly different words to make my point.
But most importantly, I feel good and I think everyone should feel good about the months that followed. The role that the CMA itself played, that people in the UK played…
The CMA held to a thought standard and I respect that, but in my view it was tough and fair. It would push Microsoft to change the acquisition that we had proposed for Activision Blizzard to spin out certain rights that the CMA was concerned about with respect to cloud gaming,
I think the CMA vindicated its position but still created a pragmatic path forward for innovation and investment. I think that is good for everyone.
Smith continued by mentioning that as the year came to a close, he was able to be in London to be part of the announcement of Microsoft’s £2.5 billion investment to build AI infrastructure in the UK.
He concluded that that investment adds up to a good year and it’s a good reminder that it’s more important to look at how the year ends than at what happened on April 26.
It’s worth mentioning that while the CMA did ultimately approve the deal in its revised form, paving the way to its consummation, its Chief Executive Sarah Cardell wasn’t exactly flattering in defining Microsoft’s methods regardless of the outcome.
“But businesses and their advisors should be in no doubt that the tactics employed by Microsoft are no way to engage with the CMA. Microsoft had the chance to restructure during our initial investigation but instead continued to insist on a package of measures that we told them simply wouldn’t work. Dragging out proceedings in this way only wastes time and money.”
it’s certainly interesting to see Smith extending an olive branch to the CMA now that the smoke from the battle has cleared.
It’s especially intriguing considering that Microsoft is still engaged on another front to defend the acquisition against the American FTC, which is actually investigating the deal with Ubisoft, which ultimately convinced the British watchdog to grant its approval.
