Microsoft says EU better place for post-Brexit business after UK blocks Activision deal
Microsoft’s president said the EU is a better place to start a business than Britain post-Brexit, as he launched a stinging attack on the UK’s decision to block a $69bn (£55bn) deal to takeover Activision Blizzard.
Brad Smith said people around the world were “shocked” by the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) ruling against the takeover of the Call of Duty developer, suggesting it would cause businesses to think twice about investing and growing their businesses in the UK.
“We’re, of course, very disappointed about the CMA’s decision, but more than that, unfortunately, I think it’s bad for Britain. The business community, the investment community and the technology sector around the world have been following this case,” Smith told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme on Thursday.
“There’s a clear message here: the European Union is a more attractive place to start a business if you want some day to sell it,” Smith said.
“TheEnglish Channel has never seemed wider.”
He added: “For all of us who had some hope that post Brexit, the UK would construct a structure that would be more flexible, be better for investment, be better for technology, we’re now finding that the opposite appears to be true.”
The CMA decision would also “discourage innovation and investment in the United Kingdom. And I think in that sense, the impact of this decision is far broader than on Microsoft or this acquisition alone”, he said. “People’s confidence in technology in the United Kingdom has been severely shaken.”
On Wednesday, the UK’s competition watchdog blocked the $68.7bn takeover of Activision Blizzard because of concerns it would harm competition in the cloud gaming market. The tie-up would have created a gaming behemoth, merging Activision’s
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