U.K.'s CMA open to exploring changes to $69 billion Microsoft-Activision merger

Investing.com -- The U.K.'s antitrust watchdog has said it is open to engaging with tech giant Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) over changes to their $69 billion mega-merger, signaling a softening in its opposition to the deal.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that both companies have indicated that "they are considering how the transaction might be modified," adding that it is prepared to work with them on these adjustments.

The CMA noted that discussions with both firms are at an early stage and that the timeline of the next steps in the matter would be laid out in due course.

Earlier this year, the CMA became the first regulator to block the tie-up, which would be the largest in the history of the gaming industry. At the time, the CMA argued that Microsoft could take advantage of its ownership of Activision's games, including its popular title "Call of Duty," to crowd out competitors in the increasingly lucrative cloud gaming market.

But, only hours after a U.S. district judge in San Francisco ruled on Tuesday that Microsoft could go ahead with its purchase of Activision, the CMA noted that it would consider looking at the deal again if its terms were restructured to mollify competition concerns.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which had a request for an injunction preventing the merger from closing denied by the San Francisco court, could appeal the ruling as soon as Wednesday, according to a source quoted by CNBC. However, the network reported that the FTC has not yet reached a decision on whether it will appeal.