BUSINESS LIVE: Microsoft takeover of Activision Blizzard cleared; Avon Protection earnings strengthen; Crest Nicholson names new CFO

Britain’s competition regulator has finally cleared Microsoft’s $69billion acquisition of ‘Call of Duty’ maker Activision Blizzard after the restructured deal substantially addressed its earlier concerns.

Activision had in August agreed to sell its streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment, and Microsoft last month offered remedies to ensure the terms of the sale were enforceable by the regulator, soothing some residual concerns.

‘The new deal will stop Microsoft from locking up competition in cloud gaming as this market takes off, preserving competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers,’ the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority said.