2023-06-17 06:35:21
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An important lawsuit will begin next week that will determine the fate of Microsoft’s merger with Activision Blizzard. The Redmond corporation is aware that if a judge grants the FTC’s request, the deal may never be approved.
The FTC tried from all angles to block Microsoft’s deal with Activision Blizzard. US officials were concerned that the corporation could approve the deal without US and UK approval, so the FTC asked for a preliminary injunction, and Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley granted the request.
However, this is only the beginning, as the FTC wants to get a permanent injunction from the court so they can then review the merger on their own and basically just block it.
According to reports, the US Antitrust Commission wants to take a multi-year process in its own administrative court instead of a federal court – so the FTC, given its own rules, could drag out the case until at least December 2024.
If the FTC gets such an injunction and is allowed to handle the merger case on its own while a federal court bans the merger, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard will be forced to renegotiate the deal, pay many millions in attorneys, and probably still won’t get approved.
In this situation, Microsoft’s legal adviser suggested that if a federal court did block the possibility of a deal and turn the case over to the FTC, the company might drop the merger altogether.
Lawyers, fearful of such a situation, asked the judge for time to prepare a thorough defense – the companies will call experts and testify within five days to prove their case.
Microsoft, Activision Blizzard and the FTC will present their arguments on June 22-23 and June 27-29, and almost after that we will learn the main news – if the Federal Commission wins, the deal may fail completely.
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