BUSINESS LIVE: Microsoft takeover of Activision Blizzard cleared; Avon Protection earnings strengthen; Crest Nicholson names new CFO

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LIVE BUSINESS: Activision Blizzard takeover by Microsoft cleared; Avon Protection profits increase; Crest Nicholson appoints new CFO

The FTSE 100 will open at 8am. Companies with trading reports and updates today include Avon Protection, Crest Nicholson and Ashmore. Read the Friday October 13 Business Live blog below.

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ALEX BRUMMER: Jess Staley leaves the mark on Barclays

Jess Staley deserves to be punished for misleading the Barclays board and the City’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) about his relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

As well as being fined £1.8m and banned from holding a senior role in financial services, he lost £17.8m in back pay at the bank.

BUSINESS LIVE Microsoft takeover of Activision Blizzard cleared Avon Protection

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1697181344 855 BUSINESS LIVE Microsoft takeover of Activision Blizzard cleared Avon Protection

Microsoft’s takeover of Activision Blizzard is cleared

Britain’s competition watchdog has finally approved Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard after the restructured deal largely addressed earlier concerns.

In August, Activision agreed to sell its streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment, and Microsoft last month offered compensation to ensure the terms of the sale were enforceable by the regulator, allaying some residual concerns.

“The new deal will prevent Microsoft from restricting competition in cloud gaming as this market grows, preserving competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers,” the UK Competition and Markets Authority said.