Activision Blizzard hires legal heavyweight to fight UK’s block of Microsoft deal

Activision Blizzard has hired legal heavyweight Lord David Pannick KC, whose recent cases include Boris Johnson’s “partygate” probe, to lead its fight against the UK competition regulator’s decision to block its $75bn deal with Microsoft.

Pannick of Blackstone Chambers, described by a legal guide as an “undisputed leader at the bar”, will represent the creator of the hit video game Call of Duty in its legal challenge at the Competition Appeal Tribunal, according to people familiar with the hire.

The hiring comes two weeks after the Competition and Markets Authority delivered a potentially fatal blow to the blockbuster takeover by concluding that it would hand Microsoft an unfair advantage in the nascent cloud gaming market.

Bobby Kotick, chief executive of California-based Activision, last month vowed to fight to conclude the deal, calling the CMA’s decision a sign that the UK was “clearly closed for business”. Microsoft president Brad Smith warned that the move “discourages technology innovation and investment” in the country.

Activision’s decision to bring in Pannick, widely seen as one of the top barristers of his generation with former clients including Queen Elizabeth II, is a sign of how seriously it is taking the threat that the UK’s intervention could kill its hopes of completing the games industry’s biggest-ever deal.

Pannick represented businesswoman Gina Miller in her two seminal Brexit-related victories against the UK government, notably in 2019 when the Supreme Court declared Johnson’s prorogation of parliament was unlawful.

The barrister, who has been a crossbench peer since 2008, went on to advise Johnson last year over partygate, when the House of Commons privileges committee investigated illegal parties held at Downing Street during Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.

In a career spanning more than four decades, Pannick has also represented clients as varied as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, businessman Roland “Tiny” Rowland, former Formula 1 boss Max Mosley, pornography distributors Sheptonhurst Ltd, and Diana, Princess of Wales. In 2003, he acted for Queen Elizabeth, winning an injunction against the Daily Mirror newspaper after a reporter posed as a Buckingham Palace footman.

Educated at Hertford College, Oxford before qualifying as a barrister in 1979, Pannick is recognised for his handling of high-level cases in UK and international law.

The latest Chambers UK legal guide describes him as an “outstanding public law silk”, known for handling the “most significant high profile human rights cases before domestic, European and international courts” over the past 20 years.

He represented the UK government last year as it won a judicial review challenge over its plan to remove asylum seekers to Rwanda, which the High Court ruled was lawful. The case is being appealed.

Blackstone Chambers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pannick’s appointment follows Microsoft hiring Daniel Beard KC, a top competition barrister, to helm its own legal case over the deal, the Telegraph reported last week.

Microsoft and Activision will act as independent parties in their appeals to the CAT, as they await decisions on the deal in Europe and the US. The European Commission is expected to issue its own report as soon as next week.

The UK’s CAT will be tasked with determining whether the CMA’s decision was lawful by analysing the agency’s decision-making procedures, which legal experts say sets a high bar for challenges such that by Microsoft and Activision. Facebook parent Meta last year failed to overturn the CMA’s ruling that it must sell Giphy, the image-sharing service, unwinding a $315mn deal.