FTC wins a temporary restraining order blocking the Microsoft—Activision deal
The US Federal Trade Commission has been granted a temporary restraining order against Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. This means the deal is now officially on hold until the courts can rule on the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction against the closure of the deal—which is itself a temporary measure aimed at halting the deal until the FTC's legal challenge against the acquisition is completed.
As reported by The Verge, the FTC filed for the temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on June 12, apparently out of concern that Microsoft would move to close the deal despite UK regulators ruling against it. The proposed acquisition has been approved in numerous other jurisdictions, including the European Union and China. The UK ruling is currently under appeal, while in the US a lawsuit filed by the FTC in December 2022 is still working its way through the courts.
«Until recently, Defendants indicated that they would not complete the proposed acquisition unless and until they received clearance from European regulators, including in proceedings before this Court in a private case challenging the proposed acquisition,» the FTC's filing states. Following the decision by the UK's Competitions and Markets Authority to block the deal, however, «Press reports began circulating suggesting that Defendants were seriously contemplating closed the proposed acquisition despite the pending administrative litigation and the CMA orders.»
Because of that, the FTC requested a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction blocking the deal until those matters can be settled, and today the court agreed, issuing a TRO to keep everything as-is until all the legal wrangling is over. The
Read more on pcgamer.com
