The soap opera will continue. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed an appeal against the verdict. Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in San Francisco denied the FTC’s request two days ago to temporarily block Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The appeal seeks a preliminary injunction that will block Xbox from communicating with the Call of Duty publisher until a trial scheduled for August..
The FTC is asking the court to issue an emergency order to extend the existing temporary injunction. It was released in June and expires 07/14/2023 (at the end of the day US time). If the court decision takes longer, Microsoft may buy Activision Blizzard before the verdict (Monday or Tuesday). We do not yet know the new arguments of the FTC, they will become public at a later date.
“The decision of the district court clearly demonstrates that this acquisition is beneficial for both competition and consumers,” Microsoft’s Brad Smith said in a statement. The tech giant’s management is understandably frustrated and will resist further attempts to delay the acquisition.
An Activision Blizzard spokesperson added: “The facts have not changed. We are confident that the United States will remain among the 39 countries where the merger can be completed.”
Mike Ybarra, president of Blizzard, took to Twitter to sort out the FTC appeal. He wrote: “Your Taxes in Practice”.
Microsoft is running out of time. In an agreement with Activision Blizzard, he promised that the deal would go through until 18.07.2023. If no agreement is reached by then, Microsoft must pay Activision Blizzard a $3 billion fine. At the same time, both parties would have to negotiate again if they wanted to continue communication.
Microsoft is also in trouble with the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). He is concerned about the impact on the cloud computing market. After the judge’s verdict, they seemed to have found a way to reach an agreement. It was later revealed that negotiations were at an early stage.
Source :Indian TV
