“Microsoft Hires Top Appeals Lawyer to Challenge CMA’s Block of Activision Blizzard Merger”

Microsoft has hired one of its most famous appeals lawyers to lead a counterattack against the CMA’s decision to block a merger with Activision Blizzard.

Monckton Chamber attorney Daniel Beard, a well-known lawyer with experience defending antitrust cases against regulators, will handle the case. Microsoft’s attorney is expected to file an appeal in the coming days.

Beard is one of the most experienced competition and appellate lawyers. It was he who persuaded the EU General Court to overturn a €1.1 billion fine imposed by the European Commission on Intel on the grounds of anti-competitive effects on the processor market. Beard was also involved in the merger process and was Microsoft’s legal advisor at the end of the company’s negotiations with UK regulators.

Beard isn’t the only high-profile lawyer representing Microsoft in this merger case: Beth Wilkinson, best known for her involvement in successfully defending the death penalty for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, is also involved in the merger case.

Wilkinson has previously said that Microsoft and Activision are willing to close the deal even during the FTC’s administrative litigation, provided the merger is approved in other territories.

Florian Müller of Foss Patents thinksthat the process could take many months and push back the closing date of the merger. Microsoft and Activision will likely have to re-negotiate a new agreement, but the European Commission is expected to give its final response on the merger on May 22, and the approval will carry weight in the current US FTC case, and could also give more weight to Microsoft’s Tribunal appeal. .