A federal judge has temporarily blocked Microsoft’s planned $69 billion purchase of gaming company Activision Blizzard.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Microsoft’s planned $69 billion acquisition of video game company Activision Blizzard was blocked by a federal judge on Wednesday, giving more time for an antitrust review of the deal.
U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Corley in San Francisco ruled in favor of a temporary restraining order sought by the Federal Trade Commission that would stop Microsoft from completing the sale.
In a court filing on Monday, the commission had sought both the restraining order and injunction to prevent Microsoft’s acquisition of the California company behind hit games such as “Call of Duty,” “World of Warcraft,” and “Candy Crush Saga.”
Microsoft, maker of the Xbox game system, has spent months trying to secure worldwide approval for the merger. While many countries have approved the acquisition, regulators for two key economies — the U.S. and the U.K. — have taken action to halt it, arguing it could stifle competition in the video game industry.
The judge said her order temporarily blocking the deal “is necessary to maintain the status quo” while the Federal Trade Commission’s legal cases against it remain pending. The threshold for issuing a temporary restraining order is lower than it is to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the deal. A hearing on the commission’s request for an injunction is set for June 22.
The commission already took Microsoft to court last year to block the merger, but that case was brought to the U.S. agency’s in-house judge in a trial set to begin on Aug. 2.
The commission said it brought the case to a federal court this week because it was concerned that Microsoft was seeking to imminently close the deal before the trial begins, which would make it “difficult, if not impossible” to reverse course if the acquisition was later found to be illegal.
Microsoft said in a written statement late Tuesday that “accelerating the legal process in the U.S. will ultimately bring more choice and competition to the gaming market.”
“A temporary restraining order makes sense until we can receive a decision from the Court, which is moving swiftly,” the company said.
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