Edit - MS/ABK may try to argue that competition is preserved with this kind of licensing deal, that absent the merger ABK re-entering doesn't represent a change to the competitive landscape, and so 'potential competition' isn't affected. That argument would work better with a new distributor than an existing third party that otherwise would be a rival. But, I think the 'licensed distributor' thing would probably fall foul of single economic entity arguments - the trick is how do you make ABK neutral re 'potential competition' in the UK without directly or indirectly doing business there? Because it seems any kind of business interest in the uk, indirect or otherwise, seems to qualify mergers for the CMA's jurisdiction. Maybe there is a way to do this, this is what very clever people would be paid to try to come up with, but from the outside it seems hard!