On Tuesday, a federal judge dismissed the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) efforts to postpone Microsoft’s $70 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard.
This decision paves the way for the tech behemoth and the video game company to potentially consolidate as early as this month.
Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, in her 53-page verdict, stated that the FTC was unable to demonstrate a likely substantiation that the merger would lead to a significant decrease in competition detrimental to consumers.
The judge rejected the FTC’s application for a preliminary injunction, which would have postponed the completion of the deal until the agency had the opportunity to challenge it in an internal court.
This decision marks a considerable setback to the FTC’s attempts to intensify its scrutiny of major tech mergers. The agency’s chair, Lina Khan, who advocates that Big Tech’s immense sway over commerce and communication fosters anti-competitive conduct, spearheads this approach.
The FTC has filed lawsuits against Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon, but so far, it has withdrawn from one of its cases against Meta and has seen little progress from its initiatives.
Microsoft and Activision, on the other hand, cheered the ruling.
We’re grateful to the Court in San Francisco for this quick and thorough decision. The merger will enable competition rather than allow entrenched market leaders to continue to dominate.
A spokesman for the FTC, Douglas Farrar, said:
The agency is disappointed in this outcome given the clear threat this merger poses to open competition in cloud gaming, subscription services and consoles. In the coming days we’ll be announcing our next step to continue our fight to preserve competition and protect consumers.
