this Federal Trade Commission An appeal has been lodged against Tuesday’s federal court decision to dismiss the preliminary injunction Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard.
The FTC appeal comes on the same day Nasdaq announced that Activision Blizzard would be delisted from the Nasdaq Stock Exchange on Monday, July 17 in preparation for a July 18 acquisition by Microsoft.
This is a pressing issue for both companies, because if the deal doesn’t close by the 18th, Microsoft will have to pay Activision Blizzard more than $3 billion and renegotiate the acquisition.
The deal may not go through because the FTC could ask the appeals court to extend the temporary restraining order against Microsoft before the court decides whether to allow the appeal. The restraining order ends Friday, July 14 at 3 p.m. ET.
However, if the appeals court does not extend the temporary restraining order, Microsoft will be free to acquire Activision Blizzard before the July 18 deadline.
As of press time, the merger has been completed Accredited by the European Union and 39 countriesthe main resistance being the UK; however, Microsoft is currently working with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to amend the acquisition to address the CMA’s concerns in a mutually acceptable way.
