Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
CNBC
In a victory for MicrosoftUS Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit late on Friday refuse Federal Trade Commission’s proposal to temporarily prevent Microsoft from completing its $68.7 billion acquisition of a video game publisher Activating blizzard.
Microsoft is still working to address transaction concerns from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority. The two companies are looking to finalize the deal by July 18.
“We appreciate the swift response of the Ninth Circuit denying the FTC’s motion to further delay the deal. This brings us one step closer to the finish line in the global regulatory review marathon. this,” Brad Smith, president and vice president of Microsoft, said in a statement
A federal judge in San Francisco, after five days of trial, ruled against the FTC on Tuesday, and the federal agency filed an appeal on Wednesday.
FTC sues for the first time to stop the acquisition last DecemberLater Apply for an emergency order to block the completion of the agreement before it can have an administrative law judge of the agency receiving it. The The FTC argued that the transaction is anticompetitive because Microsoft may offer some of its own Xbox console-specific games or detract from the experience of Activision games, such as popular Call of Duty titles on a competitor’s services if the deal ends. Instead, Microsoft has said that it will make these games more widely available.
In an emergency petition filed with the 9th Circuit on Thursday, the FTC said the district judge “refused the preliminary relief measure, applying the wrong legal standard: the court asked the FTC to certify justify its entire case on merit to the court as the arbitrator of the case”. legitimacy of the merger.” The agency requested an interim order while the court considered appealing the district court’s findings.
Under the leadership of Lina Khan, the FTC has lose another match with tech companies, including an effort to prevent Meta Platforms from buying virtual reality fitness app startup Inside.
A representative for the FTC did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling.
