EU backs Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard takeover

Brussels: The EU on Monday gave the green light to Microsoft’s $69-billion takeover bid for US video game giant Activision Blizzard, just weeks after the British competition regulator put the deal at risk by blocking it.

The deal is also under threat in the US giant’s homeland, where last year the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched a legal action to block it, one of Washington’s biggest ever interventions to stop tech industry consolidation.