A federal appeals court late Friday denied the Federal Trade Commission’s bid to temporarily block Microsoft Corp.’s
MSFT,
$68.7 billion acquisition of videogame publisher Activision Blizzard Inc.
ATVI,
clearing the path for the biggest gaming deal in the U.S. The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling means only U.K. regulators can stop the closing of the deal before a July 18 deadline. On Tuesday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled against the FTC, which sued to block the deal in December, prompting the FTC’s appeal on Wednesday. “We appreciate the Ninth Circuit’s swift response denying the FTC’s motion to further delay the deal. This brings us another step closer to the finish line in this marathon of global regulatory reviews,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a statement. The FTC was not immediately available for comment.
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