Brazil: Opened investigation into merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard

On 23 May 2022, the Brazilian Competition Authority (CADE) opened an investigation into the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard merger following the companies' request for approval of the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a video game platform company. The acquisition was agreed upon between both companies in a contract signed on 18 January 2022 which provides that Blizzard will be a subsidiary of Microsoft. The companies state in their request that the merger will not have negative effects on competition in the Brazilian market. CADE will assess the horizontal and vertical effects of the merger to determine if the transaction will have a harmful effect on competition.