Microsoft moves closer to completing $69 billion Activision takeover after court rebuffs regulators
The IndependentThe latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A U.S. appeals court on Friday rejected a bid by federal regulators to block Microsoft from closing its $68.7 billion deal to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard, paving the way for the completion of the biggest acquisition in tech history after a legal battle over whether it will undermine competition. U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley's ruling, published Tuesday, said the FTC hadn't shown that the deal would cause substantial harm. British antitrust regulators on Friday extended their deadline to issue a final order on the proposed merger, allowing them to consider Microsoft's “detailed and complex submission” pleading its case. The authority says it has pushed its original deadline back six weeks to Aug. 29 so it could go through Microsoft’s response, which details “material changes in circumstance and special reasons” why regulators shouldn’t issue an order to reject the deal.