Microsoft‘s acquisition of ZeniMax Media, which is the parent company of studios including Bethesda, MachineGames, id Software, and more, has been major news since its announcement in September 2020. It has been such big news that many may not have realized that the acquisition wasn’t complete. All manner of legal hurdles had to be overcome across many different countries. There’s good news on that front, however, as the ZeniMax Media acquisition appears to have made an important step.
Friday morning an issuance from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission was published online declaring Microsoft‘s acquisition of ZeniMax Media as “Accepted.” The SEC is an independent agency and a part of the United States federal government that oversees public companies and the market at large, as well as enforcing laws tied to market manipulation as a general idea. The SEC was responsible for reviewing Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax Media to ensure that it was entirely legal in the United States.
What was published online is called a Notice of Effectiveness, which basically declares that the SEC’s review of the documents Microsoft issued for its acquisition complete. The “Accepted” declaration means that all of Microsoft’s filings for the acquisition are in order. There’s no need to correct them and there’s nothing within them that the SEC sees as unacceptable. In other words, in the United States’ eyes, Microsoft has completed its acquisition of ZeniMax Media.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that the acquisition is complete, of course. Both Microsoft and ZeniMax Media are based in the United States, so this is obviously a major step forward. However, other regions and countries still have their own respective approval processes. For example, the European Commission said in early February it would rule on the acquisition by March 5. It may have already done so, but nothing has been confirmed publicly.
There were never any significant concerns that Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax Media wouldn’t go through, though with such a large acquisition anything is possible. The larger concern was whether it could be delayed, which is still possible. As an odd example, one ongoing lawsuit tied to Fallout 4 DLC sought to delay the acquisition, but that never came to fruition.
Microsoft, on the other hand, seemingly had all confidence that the acquisition would go through as scheduled. There are reliable leaks from a variety of outlets that Microsoft is planning an event later this month that will discuss what the acquisition of Bethesda and other game studios means for Xbox. It took almost half a year, but soon gamers will get to learn exactly what a post-acquisition Microsoft looks like.
Source: SEC
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