Supreme Court Rejects Last-Minute Bid to Block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard Takeover
Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The Supreme Court rejected an 11th-hour bid to stop Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, maker of popular games like Call of Duty, Candy Crush and World of Warcraft, knocking down what appears to be the last legal challenge standing in the way of the deal’s closing. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan on Tuesday turned down the request, filed by a group of gamers, for an emergency injunction to halt the merger. On Friday, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request by the Federal Trade Commission to stop the merger, coming after a federal district court judge on July 11 rejected the FTC’s request to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Kagan, who reviews emergency applications to the Supreme Court from the Ninth Circuit, did not provide an explanation for her decision in rejecting the motion.