Federal Judge Rejects FTC Effort To Halt Microsoft-Activision Merger
deadline.comA federal judge has rejected the Federal Trade Commission’s effort to stop Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision, ruling that the government had not shown that the transaction would substantially lessen competition. “The FTC has not shown it is likely to succeed on its assertion the combined firm will probably pull Call of Duty from Sony PlayStation, or that its ownership of Activision content will substantially lessen competition in the video game library subscription and cloud gaming markets,” U.S.
District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley wrote in her opinion. The FTC sued to block the $69 billion deal in December, arguing that the vertical merger would give Microsft too much control over top videogame franchises.
The judge’s decision was to deny a preliminary injunction pending completion of FTC administrative action. The agency has not yet said whether it would appeal.
An FTC spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment. The transaction also faces opposition from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority.
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