Microsoft Turns to UK Decision on Activision Deal After EU Delay

Microsoft Corp. handed in formal antitrust commitments to European Union watchdogs probing its $69 billion plan to buy Activision Blizzard Inc., putting the onus on Britain’s merger watchdog to deliver a potentially decisive ruling on the deal.

A formal remedies package submitted by Microsoft to the EU on March 16 will now need to be market tested, pushing the EU’s final deadline to May 22. This means the focus will now shift to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, which has publicly been the most critical about the takeover and is set to decide on it by April 26.

Pressure ...