Federal Trade Commission in the United States (FTC) has formally requested a temporary injunction to prevent Microsoft from merging with Activision Blizzard. nearly $69 billion. This is in response to unconfirmed reports that the companies are considering closing the deal despite ongoing administrative proceedings in the UK.
“Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have previously said they are unable to close the deal due to antitrust reviews of the deal in other jurisdictions.” This was announced by the representative of the FTC. “However, the companies did not give guarantees that they would adhere to this position. In light of public reports that Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are considering closing the deal in the near future, we have filed a temporary restraining order to prevent them from closing the deal while review is underway.”
Source: Microsoft37 countries have already approved the purchase of Microsoft Activision Blizzard.
In the UK, the deal will go to court in the week of July 24 this year, and FTC officials will meet with the tech giant and publisher Call of Duty for a hearing on August 2.
Microsoft welcomes the court’s request to temporarily block the acquisition deal as the case goes to federal court. This should speed up the entire legal process.. A similar statement was made by the head of Activision Blizzard Bobby Kotick.
Recall that recently several US politicians pressured the FTC to get officials out of Microsoft’s way and not block the deal. But the department disagreed. Similarly, there are British politicians who fear that Microsoft will not stop investing in their market, including the British Prime Minister. The deal has been tentatively approved by the European Commission.
Source :Indian TV
