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  • Today's business and finance round up 7th July 2022

Today's business and finance round up 7th July 2022

Fallout from government turmoil continues

July 07, 2022

7th July 2022

Bite-sized business news from the UK and beyond

Good morning After a one-year pandemic-related delay, the 2022 Women’s Euros kicked off yesterday with host nation England beating Austria. The tournament is expected to be viewed by a record breaking audience:

  • Around 500,000 tickets have been sold, more than doubling the record 240,000 fans who attended the 2017 edition in the Netherlands.

  • The tournament will air in 195 territories and is expected to bring in more than 250m viewers, up from 178m in 2017.

Today's stories

  • Fallout from government turmoil continues

  • UK watchdog investigates Microsoft $70bn gaming acquisition 

POLITICSFallout from government turmoil continues

Other stories to keep you in the loop

  • Boris Johnson refusing to step down despite cabinet revolt

  • Lloyds Bank boss: 80%of Brits have less than £500 in their account 

  • Just Eat US subsidiary Grubhub signs deal with Amazon

  • UK opens investigation into Amazon’s marketplace practices

  • American tourists to the rescue as Trainline brightens its outlook for the year

  • Airbnb London prices soar as UK eyes curbs in tourist haunts

  • Crisis hit Sri Lanka asks Russia for help to buy fuel

  • Rihanna becomes youngest self-made female billionaire 

TECHUK watchdog investigates Microsoft $70bn gaming acquisition 

What happened?Yesterday the CMA, the UK’s competition regulator, launched an investigation into Microsoft’s takeover of Activision Blizzard the video game giant behind ‘Call of Duty’ and ‘World of Warcraft’.How did we get here?Microsoft started 2022 by announcing it had offered $70bn in an all cash deal to buy Activision, the biggest deal in not only the tech juggernaut’s history but also the gaming industry.The rationale was to add to the company’s gaming credentials, which already includes the Xbox games console, and compete against Meta in the race to build virtual worlds aka the metaverse.But regulators are concerned over what the deal could do to competitionA tie up of Microsoft and Activision would create the third-largest gaming firm in the world by revenue. The CMA said it’s working with its counterparts across the globe to decide if the deal would reduce competition and therefore be bad for consumers through higher prices, lower quality or less choice.Zooming out: Microsoft’s Big Tech peers have increasingly found themselves in the regulator hot seat. Regulators across the world are who have scrutinised Alphabet, Meta, Apple and Amazon could give Microsoft trouble as they look to rein in anti-competitive consolidation in the tech industry.

Stat of the day

British Airways has announced it will cut a further 10,300 short-haul flights until the end of October, scrapping 13% of its flight schedule for the peak summer holiday season

Interesting links from around the web

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