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Microsoft logo is seen on a smartphone placed on displayed Activision Blizzard’s games character.

Dado Ruvic | Reuters

Microsoft on Tuesday submitted a new deal for the takeover of Activision Blizzard, offering a spate of concessions after U.K. regulators rejected its initial proposal.

The U.S. technology giant first put forward the $69 billion acquisition of Activision in January 2022, but has since faced regulatory challenges in the U.S., Europe and U.K.

On Tuesday, the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority confirmed it has blocked the original deal. However, it said Microsoft and Activision have agreed to a new, restructured agreement, which the CMA will now investigate with a decision deadline of Oct. 18.

The Redmond, Washington-based tech giant anticipates the review can be completed before this time, Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a Tuesday statement.

Under the restructured deal, Microsoft will not acquire cloud rights for existing Activision PC and console games, or for new games released by Activision during the next 15 years, the CMA said. Instead, these rights will be divested to French game publisher Ubisoft Entertainment before Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, the CMA added.

Ubisoft shares were up more than 9% in Europe trade. Shares of Activision were up 1%, while Microsoft rose less than 1% in early U.S. trading.

Microsoft offers to sell cloud streaming rights to Activision games to Ubisoft to seal takeover with U.K. regulator

The CMA has been the toughest critic of the takeover, citing concerns that the deal would hamper competition in the nascent cloud gaming market.

Cloud gaming is seen as the next frontier in the industry, offering subscription services that allow people to stream games just as they would movies or shows on Netflix. It could even remove the need for expensive consoles, with users playing the games on PCs, mobile and TVs instead.

Regulators previously argued that Microsoft could also take key Activision games, like Call of Duty, and make them exclusive to Xbox and other Microsoft platforms.

Authorities in the European Union were the first major regulator to clear the deal back in May. To cross that line, Microsoft offered concessions, such as offering royalty-free licenses to cloud gaming platforms to stream Activision games, if a consumer has purchased them.

The CMA refused similar measures at the time, which it felt would allow Microsoft to “set the terms and conditions for this market for the next ten years.”

In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission was fighting a legal battle with Microsoft in an effort to get the Activision takeover scrapped. In July, a judge blocked the FTC’s attempt to do so, clearing the way for the deal to go ahead in the U.S.

Just hours later, the CMA said it was “ready to consider any proposals from Microsoft to restructure the transaction” and allay the regulator’s concerns.

Microsoft’s new proposal to the U.K.

The restructured deal and cloud rights divestment to Ubisoft are intended to provide an independent third-party content supplier with the ability to supply Activision’s gaming content to all cloud gaming service providers, including to Microsoft itself.

Ubisoft will be able to license out Activision content under different business models, including subscription services.

The deal would also require Microsoft to provide versions of games on operating systems other than Windows, which it owns.

“Microsoft has notified a new and restructured deal, which is substantially different from what was put on the table previously,” Sarah Cardell, CEO of the CMA, said in a statement.

“As part of this new deal, Activision’s cloud streaming rights outside of the EEA (European Economic Area) will be sold to a rival, Ubisoft, who will be able to license out Activision’s content to any cloud gaming provider. This will allow gamers to access Activision’s games in different ways, including through cloud-based multigame subscription services.”

Cardell emphasized this is not a signal of an approval for the deal.

“This is not a green light. We will carefully and objectively assess the details of the restructured deal and its impact on competition, including in light of third-party comments.”

For its part, Microsoft will be compensated for its divestment to Ubisoft “through a one-off payment and through a market-based wholesale pricing mechanism, including an option that supports pricing based on usage. It will also give Ubisoft the opportunity to offer Activision Blizzard’s games to cloud gaming services running non-Windows operating systems,” Smith said Tuesday.

“We’re dedicated to delivering amazing experiences to our players wherever they choose to play,” Chris Early, senior vice president of strategic partnerships and business development at Ubisoft, said on Tuesday. “Today’s deal will give players even more opportunities to access and enjoy some of the biggest brands in gaming.”

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SoFi’s stock drops on $1.5 billion share sale announcement

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SoFi's stock drops on .5 billion share sale announcement

Anthony Noto, CEO of SoFi, speaking with CNBC at the annual Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho on July 10th, 2025.

David A. Grogan | CNBC

SoFi shares fell almost 6% in extended trading Thursday after the fintech company announced a $1.5 billion stock offering.

The company, which provides online loans and other banking services, said in a press release that it will use the proceeds for “general corporate purposes, including but not limited to enhancing capital position, increasing optionality and enabling further efficiency of capital management, and funding incremental growth and business opportunities.”

The announced offering comes after SoFi’s market cap almost doubled so far in 2025. The stock price is up more than sixfold since the end of 2022.

A company’s share price often drops on a planned share sale as the offering dilutes the value of existing holders’ stakes.

In its third-quarter earnings release in late October, SoFi reported revenue growth of 38% from a year earlier to $961.6 million, while net income more than doubled to $139.4 million. The company reported cash and equivalents of $3.25 billion.

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Apple announces departure of general counsel and policy chief

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Apple announces departure of general counsel and policy chief

Lisa Jackson, senior vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives at Apple Inc., speaks during the TechCrunch Disrupt 2017 in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Apple’s general counsel, Kate Adams, and its vice president for environment, policy, and social initiatives, Lisa Jackson, are retiring from the company, the iPhone maker announced on Thursday.

Jennifer Newstead, Meta’s chief legal officer, will become Apple’s new general counsel in March, and Jackson’s government affairs staff will report to her starting late next year, Apple said.

The two executives, who both reported to Apple CEO Tim Cook, are the latest members of senior leadership to exit the company. In recent weeks, Apple’s head software designer said he was leaving to join Meta, while Apple said its AI chief was retiring, along with its chief operating officer.

Adams joined Apple from Honeywell and became general counsel in 2017, and oversaw legal matters including litigation, global security, and the company’s privacy initiatives. Under Adams, Apple grappled with rising antitrust scrutiny and regulation around the world, including major lawsuits in the U.S. over the iPhone App Store’s restrictions and fees.

Jackson joined Apple in 2013, and led the company’s diversity programs as well as much of its policy work in Washington, D.C. Before that, she spent four years as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a position she was appointed to by President Barack Obama.

With her emphasis in areas like social justice and renewable energies, Jackson’s job lost relevance during the second Trump administration, which has publicly denounced diversity, equity and inclusion programs and slammed efforts to combat climate change.

Apple has faced increased tariffs from the Trump administration, and Cook has met with President Donald Trump several times to tout the company’s American manufacturing plans as part of an effort to influence policy.

Jackson was instrumental in Apple’s launch of its Racial Equity and Justice Initiative following the 2020 murder of George Floyd. She then helped expand the company’s equity and justice efforts to other countries, including the U.K., Mexico and New Zealand, according to a report published in 2023.

“At Apple, we pledge that our resolve will not fade,” Jackson wrote in a section of that report. “We won’t delay action. We will work, each and every day, on the urgent task of advancing equity.”

Jackson also worked on Apple’s environmental image. Her job “focused on reducing greenhouse gases, protecting air and water quality, preventing exposure to toxic contamination, and expanding outreach to communities on environmental issues,” according to her bio on the company’s website. She discussed Apple’s plans to become carbon neutral at iPhone launch events.

Jackson also accompanied Cook to several official functions in Washington, including state dinners.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Apple Vice President Lisa Jackson arrive at the White House for a state dinner on April 10, 2024 in Washington, DC.

Tasos Katopodis | Getty Images

Newstead, who will become Apple’s top lawyer, has overseen Meta’s legal and regulatory matters pertaining to its family of apps like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp since 2019. A Meta spokesperson said Newstead will be staying through the end of the year and that the company is actively searching for her replacement.

Prior to Meta, Newstead served as a Trump-appointed legal advisor at the State Department during the president’s first administration in 2019. 

Before that, she was a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell and a general counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget, among other roles in the U.S. government.

CNBC’s Jonathan Vanian contributed to this story.

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Microsoft will raise prices of commercial Office subscriptions in July

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Microsoft will raise prices of commercial Office subscriptions in July

A general view of the Microsoft office building is seen in Cologne, Germany, on November 18, 2025.

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Microsoft said Thursday that it will increase the prices of Office productivity software subscriptions for commercial and government clients on July 1.

The company’s Office applications, which include Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, have been facing increased competition in recent years from Google.

“We are continuously investing and innovating our platform for the future,” Nicole Herskowitz, corporate vice president for Microsoft 365 and Copilot, wrote in a blog post. “In the last year, we released more than 1,100 features across Microsoft 365, Security, Copilot, and SharePoint.” The new features have added value to the suites, she wrote.

Price hikes for commercial Office subscriptions have been infrequent. In 2022, Microsoft raised prices of its productivity bundles for the first time since launching the original Office 365 subscriptions in 2011. Microsoft changed the name of Office 365 to Microsoft 365 in 2020. In January, Microsoft announced a price hike for consumer Office bundles.

Microsoft offers Office 365 subscriptions for commercial use that include access to its productivity applications, along with higher-priced Microsoft 365 subscriptions that also include Windows operating system updates.

Here’s a breakdown of the commercial price changes:

  • For small and medium-sized businesses, Microsoft 365 Business Basic will cost $7 per person per month, up from $6.
  • Microsoft 365 Business Standard will be available for $14, up from $12.50.
  • Microsoft 365 Business Premium will continue to cost $22.
  • The entry-level Office 365 E1 offering for enterprises will still be sold for $10.
  • Office 365 E3 will jump 13% to $26 from $23.
  • The Microsoft 365 E3 package including Windows for enterprises will rise 8% to $39 from $36.
  • The full-featured Microsoft 365 E5 will increase to $60 from $57.
  • For front-line workers such as cashiers, Microsoft 365 F1 subscriptions will cost $3, up from $2.25.
  • Microsoft 365 F3 will be available for $10, up from $8.

The U.S. Defense Department and other government clients will face similar percentage price increases.

The various subscriptions all exclude access to the $30 Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on that draws on generative artificial intelligence models. Some companies have started widely rolling out Copilot, while others have held off on expanding their deployments, CNBC reported last week.

In many cases, organizations receive discounts off of list prices, but Microsoft has cut back on direct volume deals for some types of customers.

Almost 43% of Microsoft’s $77.7 billion in fiscal first-quarter revenue came from its Productivity and Businesses Processes segment, which includes Office. In October, the company said revenue from Microsoft 365 commercial cloud services jumped 17%, while seats increased 6%, mainly from products targeting small and medium-sized businesses and front-line workers.

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