FTC v. Microsoft: all the news from the big Xbox courtroom battle
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The situation is changing daily as we approach the key July 18th deal deadline. After the FTC lost its request for a preliminary injunction earlier this week the regulator has filed an appeal. Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley set the expiration date of a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing Microsoft from closing its deal to 11:59PM PT for Friday July 14th. This means the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has very little time to rule on the FTC’s appeal.
The FTC wants the Ninth Circuit Court to grant emergency relief to extend the temporary restraining order until when the appeals court can rule on the preliminary injunction decision. If granted, this will block Microsoft from closing its proposed Activision Blizzard acquisition until the court can make a full decision. If the Ninth Circuit Court doesn’t grant an extension before 11:59PM PT today then Microsoft is free to close the deal over the weekend or early next week.
But there’s still the matter of the UK.
The Competition and Markets Authority in the UK are now negotiating with Microsoft. Both the CMA and Microsoft have agreed to pause their legal battles to figure out how the transaction might be modified in order to address the CMA’s cloud gaming concerns. The CMA blocked Microsoft’s deal earlier this year, citing competition fears in the emerging cloud gaming market.
The CMA has just issued a notice of extension for its overall investigation into the deal, moving the date for final undertakings or a final order from July 18th to August 29th. The extension comes hours after Bloomberg reported that Microsoft is considering selling UK cloud-gaming rights to a telecommunications, gaming, or internet company to allow the Activision deal to close with the CMA.
The extension could mean Microsoft and the CMA aren’t quite ready to make a final deal in time for the July 18th deal deadline. The CMA also warned this week that Microsoft’s proposals may “lead to a new merger investigation” and that discussions with Microsoft were at an early stage.
All eyes are now on the Ninth Circuit Court and the situation with the CMA in the UK.
