WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has announced that it will appeal a federal judge’s ruling allowing Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the renowned creator of “Call of Duty.”
The filing did not disclose the specifics of the appeal, but it will be presented to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on the West Coast.
In response, Microsoft has not yet provided a comment regarding the appeal.
The contested deal involved Xbox game console-maker Microsoft, who faced arguments from the Biden administration claiming that the acquisition would negatively impact consumers by granting Microsoft exclusive access to popular games such as “Call of Duty.”
While experts remained divided on the grounds for the appeal, some suggesting that appeals courts typically defer to judges on matters of fact, others raised the possibility of Judge Corley having potentially erred in her assessment of the standard required to halt the deal.
Within her 53-page order, Judge Corley stated that it was insufficient for the FTC to argue that a merger “might” lessen competition, emphasizing that the FTC must demonstrate that the merger will “probably substantially lessen competition.”
Several legal scholars have questioned whether this standard aligns with U.S. antitrust laws, which typically require the FTC to establish that the proposed deal “may” harm competition, rather than definitively proving that it “will” do so.
This acquisition represents Microsoft’s largest ever and is also the largest transaction in the history of the videogame industry. Following the announcement, Microsoft’s shares rose by 1.4% and closed at $337.20.
To assuage the concerns raised by the agency, Microsoft has agreed to license “Call of Duty” to competitors, including a 10-year contract with Nintendo, provided the merger is finalized.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Diane Craft)
Credit: The Star : Tech Feed
