FTC reportedly “leaning toward” Microsoft court decision appeal

The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly “leaning toward” an appeal of yesterday’s decisive court verdict that cleared the way for Microsoft to complete its Activision Blizzard acquisition in the US.

A Bloomberg report states that the FTC currently favours launching an appeal, but has just days to do so.

Microsoft cannot close the deal in the US before Friday this week, while the deal itself is set to expire next Tuesday, 18th July. It’s therefore expected Microsoft will act swiftly, and seek to complete the acquisition once and for all this coming Monday.

Of course, completing the buyout worldwide will rely on Microsoft also clearing the lingering concerns of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

Yesterday, Microsoft revealed it was back around the negotiating table with the CMA to find a quick remedy the UK regulator’s issues around cloud gaming.

All of this could be thrown back into limbo by a further legal challenge from the FTC – though it remains to be seen on what grounds it will appeal.

Yesterday’s verdict concluded that the FTC had failed to find enough evidence that a Microsoft-owned Activision Blizzard would substantially lessen competition.

There was no suggestion the deal would result in Call of Duty being pulled from PlayStation, Judge Corley decided. Indeed, the verdict found the deal would allow for greater access to Activision Blizzard games due to the concessions Microsoft had already announced.

Ultimately, while the deal was “perhaps bad for Sony”, Judge Corley ruled, it was “good for Call of Duty gamers”.

The only other major regulator to take issue with the deal, the EU’s European Commission, recently gave its approval after deciding it was happy with concessions made by Microsoft.

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• Source: https://www.eurogamer.net/ftc-reportedly-leaning-toward-microsoft-court-decision-appeal