US appeals court refuses FTC request to pause Microsoft deal for Activision
Activision Blizzard. The decision removes one of the few remaining hurdles stopping Xbox maker Microsoft from closing the deal and expanding its gaming business. The FTC had also asked Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of the U.S.
District Court in northern California for a similar stay but she rejected that request late on Thursday. The FTC did not immediately return a request for comment. Microsoft President Brad Smith said: «We appreciate the Ninth Circuit's swift response denying the FTC's motion to further delay the deal.
This brings us another step closer to the finish line in this marathon of global regulatory reviews.» The deal, the largest in the history of the videogame industry, still needs to be approved in Britain. Now that its latest appeal has been rejected, the FTC may drop the fight, as it has in similar situations in the past. This happened most recently in February with Meta Platforms' purchase of virtual reality content maker Within Unlimited.
The FTC lost in federal court and dropped the challenge. The merger agreement between Microsoft and Activision will expire on July 18. After July 18, either company will be free to walk away from the deal unless they negotiate an extension.
In Britain, the Competition and Markets Authority opposes the transaction on concerns about the impact on competition in cloud gaming. On Friday, it received a «detailed and complex» new proposal from Microsoft, and extended its deadline for a final ruling to Aug. 29, although it said it would aim to rule as soon as possible.
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