Well, that was fast. In the ongoing saga of Microsoft’s attempt to purchase Activision Blizzard, we just discussed the FTC’s petition to the court to have a temporary restraining order put in place preventing the two companies from finalizing the purchase while regulatory bodies were still doing their thing. Honestly, the most interesting part of that story were the hints within the request pointing to some of the arguments that the FTC is likely to make in court.
But it’s also not exactly unimportant that the court swiftly granted the FTC it’s TRO, for the moment preventing the two companies from finalizing the deal at all. And, whether real or mere pantomiming, both Microsoft and Activision are stating that this is all great. Preferred, even.
The temporary order issued by District Court Judge Jacqueline Corley doesn’t do much to suggest which way the court is leaning on the merits of the FTC’s case. A Microsoft spokesperson even acknowledged to the Associated Press that “a temporary restraining order makes sense until we can receive a decision from the Court, which is moving swiftly.”
The first hearing on the FTC’s preliminary injunction request is scheduled to start on June 22, giving Microsoft until Friday to file its initial response in the matter. That tight schedule might be to Microsoft’s overall benefit, as Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said Monday that the FTC’s federal injunction request “accelerates the legal process” and that their “excellent legal team has been preparing for this move for more than a year.”
There’s some truth to this. The hearing for the preliminary injunction set for later this month will be Microsoft and Activision’s first chance to clap back at the arguments that the FTC is making. In theory, both companies are also under a July 18th deadline to finalize the deal, though that is something both sides could easily renegotiate. Although, honestly, if it weren’t for the separation fee Microsoft would have to pay if it pulled out of the deal, I almost wonder if the FTC’s suit and the need to appeal the CMA’s block of the deal in the UK would be enough to make Microsoft reconsider all of this.
These are two major fronts on which Microsoft has to fight this legal war. The first hearing on the appeal in the UK isn’t even scheduled until the end of July. And now it has to fight the FTC and try to convince the court that it really intends to keep its games cross-platform, despite its blatant lies in the past.
In other words, good luck.
Source link
