Microsoft (MSFT.O) on Tuesday called Britain’s anti-trust authority a global “outlier” for delaying its $69 billion merger of “Call of Duty” creator Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O).
In April, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) banned the agreement, stating it may damage cloud gaming competition.
The business wants an Activision-intervened appeal heard in July. However, the CMA’s lawyers requested that Microsoft’s appeal be heard in September.
On Tuesday, Microsoft’s lawyer Daniel Beard told the CAT, “If this process does not move forward quickly, it jeopardises this merger being completed.”
Microsoft is appealing to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in London, alleging that the CMA was wrong to infer the merger will substantially reduce competition in the U.K.’s cloud gaming sector.
He said ten agencies, including the European Union’s competition body, approved the combination earlier this month.
“The CMA is the outlier here in its position,” Beard added. “It creates uncertainty that risks derailing this deal, so speed is essential.”
He added: “It is only here that we have this uncertainty in terms of there being a decision which we say is fundamentally wrong and purports to stop this merger worldwide in relation to a tiny part of the gaming industry.”
Microsoft appealed the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s decision to ban the purchase because it would reduce competition.
