FTC’s Appeal Against Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard Has Been Denied

The US Federal Trade Commission’s appeal against the verdict of its recent trial to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been denied. The regulatory body had appealed the verdict by Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, which has now been denied by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The FTC had filed its appeal earlier this week after Judge Corley had denied its injunction against Microsoft’s attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

“We appreciate the Ninth Circuit’s swift response denying the FTC’s motion to further delay the deal,” said Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith in a statement to The Verge. “This brings us another step closer to the finish line in this marathon of global regulatory reviews.”

The FTC’s appeal being denied essentially allows Microsoft to go ahead with its acquisition of Activision Blizzard while keeping to its scheduled July 18 deadline. Missing the deadline would force Microsoft to pay Activision Blizzard quite a bit of money, and would open the deal up for re-negotiations.

While Microsoft has seemingly gotten the result it wanted from the regulatory body in the US, it’s still in negotiations with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority in a bid to close the deal, however, the deadline for the final decision was recently pushed back to August 29.