Microsoft achieves victory as the U.S. Appeals Court for the 9th Circuit rejects the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) motion to temporarily block Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a video game publisher. While Microsoft still needs to address concerns raised by the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority, the company aims to finalize the deal by July 18.
Expressing gratitude for the swift response from the Ninth Circuit, Brad Smith, Microsoft's president and vice chair, highlights the progress made in the global regulatory reviews of the acquisition. The FTC initially sued to prevent the merger in December, followed by an emergency injunction request to halt the deal's completion before an administrative law judge could review it. The FTC argued that the acquisition could result in anti-competitive practices, such as exclusive games for Microsoft's Xbox consoles or a potential decline in the quality of Activision games on rival platforms. In contrast, Microsoft stated its intention to enhance the availability of the games.
Following a five-day court hearing, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled against the FTC on Tuesday, prompting the agency to file an appeal on Wednesday. In its emergency motion to the 9th Circuit, the FTC criticized the district judge's decision, claiming that the wrong legal standard was applied and requesting a temporary injunction during the appeal process.
The FTC, led by Lina Khan, has faced setbacks in its attempts to challenge technology companies, including its failed effort to prevent Meta Platforms from acquiring Within, a virtual reality fitness app startup.
As of now, there has been no immediate response from the FTC regarding the court's ruling.
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