Microsoft and Activision extend deadline to close $69 billion deal under close regulatory scrutiny

The deadline for Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of video game company Activision Blizzard has been extended to as the companies seek to close a deal that has been opposed by regulators in the U.S. and the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority. Microsoft believes that pushing back the deadline to Oct. 18 will provide enough time to work through the remaining regulatory issues, said Brad Smith, the company’s president. The extension comes with a bigger termination fee, should the deal be called off, and a number of other new agreements. Microsoft and Activision were supposed to close their deal by Tuesday according to their 18-month-old merger agreement.