Microsoft Corp.’s proposed $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc. is likely to receive a close look from antitrust enforcers in the U.S. and abroad at a time when they have stepped up scrutiny of proposed mergers, especially in the tech sector.
The deal comes at a time of robust debate in Washington about whether the government should do more to restrain the nation’s largest and most powerful tech companies. Despite Microsoft’s size and role in the U.S. economy, as well as its history in the antitrust crosshairs in the 1990s, it has largely avoided the spotlight this time around. The Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission and members of Congress have instead focused on alleged threats to competition presented by Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Amazon.com, Apple Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook.
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