As I expected, Federal Trade Commission has appealed Judge Jacqueline Scott Corey’s recent ruling in support of Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision.
FTC appeals Judge Corley’s ruling on Microsoft’s attempted acquisition of Activision
according to The Verge, bring the action has been filed, but the full text of the plea is not made public until it is filed with the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The appeal requires the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to issue an emergency injunction to extend the temporary injunction, which currently expires at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on July 14. If no ruling is reached by the time an agreement is reached, Microsoft could complete the deal relatively quickly without a restraining order, as the July 18 deadline looms.
Microsoft President Brad Smith also issued a statement on the matter, denouncing the FTC’s claims as “apparently weak.”
“The district court’s ruling clearly shows that this acquisition is good for both competition and consumers,” Smith said. “We are disappointed that the FTC continues to pursue what has become a clearly weak case and oppose further efforts to slow progress.”
But the UK still has the Competition Markets Authority to deal with. Microsoft and the CMA have agreed to stay the lawsuit, but the CMA said: New contracts could lead to new investigations. CNBC first report The two companies say they agreed to a “small sale” to address the CMA’s concerns about cloud gaming, but the editorial said Microsoft only proposed a “small and individual sale”, noting that the CMA would necessarily do so. He explained that he did not accept it. It’s unclear what the sale will look like, but it’s possible that some cloud-specific changes need to be made in Europe.
