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Microsoft hits back at UK after Activision acquisition blocked

The decision by the UK regulator to block Microsoft's (MSFT.O) acquisition of "Call of Duty" creator Activision Blizzard "had shaken confidence," according to Brad Smith, president of Microsoft. The purchase was halted on Wednesday by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), an independent agency of the government that said it may hurt competition in the young cloud gaming business.

Microsoft hit back on Thursday, saying it was "probably the darkest day in our four decades in Britain" and sent the wrong message to the global tech industry about the UK. "If the government of the United Kingdom wants to bring in investment, if it wants to create jobs it needs to look hard at the role of the CMA, the regulatory structure in the United Kingdom, this transaction, and the message that the United Kingdom has just said to the world," he told BBC radio.

A spokesman for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Smith's comments were "not borne out by the facts". "We continue to believe that the UK has an extremely attractive tech sector and a growing games market," he said. "We will continue to engage proactively with Microsoft and other companies."

Smith asserted that Microsoft had successfully collaborated with authorities in Brussels but not in London, disproving Britain's assertion that it will be more accommodating following Brexit. He said that once the corporation responded to the CMA's inquiries, it instructed them to follow up with any more questions. He stated, "They fell silent; we heard nothing from them. The European Union is a more desirable area to establish a firm if you want to eventually sell it than the United Kingdom, he continued.However, CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell stated that the regulator's responsibility was to ensure that Britain was a market where firms could expand and prosper.