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Welcome to Lookzy. In today's Lookzy:

• The big new Microsoft antitrust fight

• SBF moves a notch closer to potential indictment

• What would you (pay) for a Klondike (company)?

• A look at who hasn't announced bonuses

MICROSOFT CHOOSES WAR

The FTC voted yesterday to issue an administrative complaint against Microsoft over its proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard (press release, redacted complaint).

The FTC's core argument is that this acquisition would harm competition in the gaming market. Microsoft already produces its own console, the Xbox, and if it additionally owns Activision's suite of games, it could withhold those games from competitors like Sony's PlayStation.

Microsoft appears ready to fight back. Microsoft's President Brad Smith noted, "While we believe in giving peace a chance, we have complete confidence in our case and welcome the opportunity to present it in court."

The stakes are high. The proposed Activision deal is Microsoft's largest ever and one of the 30 biggest deals of all time. Activision's Call of Duty franchise has generated $30 billion in revenue alone, with more than $1 billion in sales for Modern Warfare II in the first 10 days alone.

Microsoft had already taken steps to try to assuage competition concerns, so this fight is likely no surprise. On Tuesday, Microsoft had announced an agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to the Switch for 10 years, and Microsoft noted it had made a similar offer to Sony.

The FTC is not seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the deal from closing; a concurrent European Commission investigation into the deal complicates such an injunction.

Microsoft is no stranger to fighting the US government on antitrust grounds. United States v. Microsoft Corporation, decided in 2001, was a major antitrust battle wherein Microsoft was able to prevent the US government from breaking it up.

ECON SNAPSHOT

The difference between special bonuses and layoffs.

THE VERDICT

Arguing today's litigation news

Payments fraud. The criminal trial over Wirecard, the once massive, blue-chip German payments processor that ultimately went insolvent after a report identified massive fraud and accounting scandals with as much as $1.9 billion simply "missing", kicked off yesterday and is expected to last through 2024. German prosecutors are seeking jail time of up to 15 years and roughly $100 million in restitution from Wirecards former leaders.

SBF getting nervous. The FTX bankruptcy team, including its new CEO, was said to meet with federal prosecutors in New York. Separately, after much back and forth on Twitter, SBF agreed to testify (virtually) at a House committee hearing, though we expect he won't say much.

More antitrust. Another antitrust-related trial began yesterday, with the FTC seeking to block Meta's acquisition of VR app developer Within Unlimited. The FTC is hoping to get a preliminary injunction to pause the acquisition while it takes the time needed to investigate whether the deal is in fact anti-competitive.

Big tobacco. A Texas federal judge ruled that free speech rights demand that the US government cannot force R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and other cigarette companies to add particularly large and graphic warnings to their cigarette packaging.

Judicial recusal. A Fifth Circuit panel criticized a district court judge's decision not to recuse herself from a trial against Wal-Mart because of her ownership of Wal-Mart stock, but refused to overturn the judge's dismissal of a suit against the company.

THE DEAL

Wheelin' and dealin' today's corporate news

Back to the mines. Marathon Digital Holdings Inc., the Bitcoin miner, hired Weil and Guggenheim Partners to both evaluate its exposure to bankrupt counterparty Compute North and also consider a bid for Compute North's assets.

Big drink. Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. purchased a 30% stake of Nutrabolt, a global health and wellness company, for $863 million to become its second-largest investor.

WWYD for a Klondike bar? Unilever is reportedly considering selling its Breyers and Klondike ice cream brands in a $3 billion deal, continuing a nearly $7 billion sell off of dessert brands over the first nine months of 2022.

Fair warning. British-based, Chinese-controlled data center provider Global Switch is in the process of seeking a buyer, with final bids due by mid-December. PE firms PAG, KKR and EQT are all in the final round, and expectations are that the final pricetag will be around $8 billion, including debt.

Crypto disclosures. The SEC advised public companies include their exposure to the cryptocurrency market in their public disclosures, causing issuers to examine whether recent crypto market volatility or bankruptcies in the same affect them.

SEC drama. The SEC's Acting Inspector General left the agency after less than two months after releasing a report rebuking Gary Gensler's rulemaking approach.

BUSINESS OF THE FIRM

Industry News:

• SBF's parents will not be teaching at Stanford Law next year. SBF's dad, Joseph Bankman, who did some work for FTX and is helping SBF with his legal defense, canceled the one winter class he had schedule, and SBF's mom wrote she was making the "long-planned” decision to retire and has “nothing to do with anything else going on”. Hmm.

• KPMG announced that it established a new stand-alone law firm headquartered in Ireland, KPMG Law Ireland, which is aiming to grow to 160 in staff within three years.

• President Biden is on track to have his 100th judicial nominee confirmed, following the Senate's approval of a judge in Ohio and a committee's advance of another judge's nomination.

• Stanford Law is experimenting with an alternative law school tuition debt scheme. Rather than taking out a traditional loan, student Spencer Segal, class of 2025, will receive $170,000 up front in exchange for paying 10% of his income for 12 years.

• Two associates at a small law firm in North Dakota, Larson Latham Huettl, have appealed cases where their law firm sent the associates bills for "overpayment" when the associates did not bill enough hours.

• A flurry of firms have been announcing annual bonuses since Baker McKenzie kicked things off. But with all the announcements, who's left? Turns out, quite a few firms in the Vault 100. Check out the Lookzy Reverse Bonus Tracker below for the full list. Have any details about typical timelines for firms that haven't announced yet? Reply to this email and we can update.

BOILERPLATE

Alright, back to billing. That's all, folks!