Microsoft reportedly won’t have to sell off parts of Activision to appease EU

Activision stocks have risen 1.8 percent in premarketing trading based on a Reuters report that the EU will not force Microsoft to sell assets to gain its merger approval.  Instead, Activision will likely use licensing deals to gain EU approval.

Microsoft recently met with UK antitrust regulators to discuss options for getting a deal approved.  The European Commission has added a short two-week extension to review the deal, moving the deadline to April 25th. Lawyers for both sides met with EU regulators last month to discuss if the deal raised too many anti-competitive concerns. It appears that last-minute licensing agreements with Nintendo and Nvidia may help get Microsoft the push it needs. Even with this bit of good news Microsoft still faces FTC hurdles in the US.

Microsoft continues to reiterate its plan to bring Call of Duty to as many as 150 million more gamers if they are allowed to close the deal.