Microsoft’s attempt to acquire Activision Blizzard was temporarily blocked by a US judge. The Federal Trade Commission reportedly asked for a preliminary injunction and with that being said, a judge is now locking the said deal until the court can decide yes or no on the acquisition.
Microsoft’s Attempt to Acquire Activision Blizzard
A federal court has now issued a temporary restraining order that will stop Microsoft from closing its $68.7 billion deal to purchase Activision Blizzard well, at least for now. The Federal Trade Commission recently filed a complaint on Monday seeking to get the restraining order as well as a preliminary injunction, and the court has now agreed to the restraining order while it on its end considers that very injunction. If the courts however grant the injunction as well, the FTC would have a chance to make its legal case before any kind of deal can be done.
What Microsoft Has To Say about the Recent Development Regarding the Deal
And as a result of the order of today, Microsoft and Activision cannot complete the said acquisition until “after 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on the fifth business day after the Court rules on the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction” or a date that is set by the court (whichever is later). The court in question has also set an evidentiary hearing on the preliminary injunction for dates June 22nd and 23rd, so it is extremely very much unlikely that these companies will get to close the transaction this very month.
“Accelerating the legal process in the US will ultimately bring more choice and competition to the gaming market,” Microsoft spokesperson David Cuddy in a statement to The Verge stated. “A temporary restraining order makes sense until we can receive a decision from the Court, which is moving swiftly.”
The Planned Acquisition Was Announced Back In April
Both Microsoft and Activision announced the planned acquisition back in January 2022, and in the months that have led since then, it has faced enormous regulatory scrutiny and hiccups. And although EU regulators recently approved the deal in May, UK regulators reportedly blocked the deal in April (this is a decision that Microsoft has appealed) and the FTC then sued in December in another attempt to block the very deal.
The deal is technically supposed to close before a July 18th deadline. And if the deal is not renegotiated to extend that very deadline in question, Microsoft is then obligated to pay Activision Blizzard a $3 billion breakup fee.
Is Microsoft Still Going To Buy Activision Blizzard
With the content of this post, then you should know in just a matter of time as to whether the said deal will be going through or not, it is not far now. Theoretically speaking, Microsoft could complete the buy of activation Blizzard without the approval of the FTC, but I don’t think that the tech giant is ready to go down that route.
The main reason for that however lies across the pond where the British Competition and Markets Authority just recently blocked the deal in late April but has however recounted in its decision to block the deal now.
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