Phoenix Technology News Beijing time May 8, Reuters reported that the U.S. Federal Court of Appeal on Wednesday rejected the US Federal Trade Commission's legal challenge to Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the lower court's ruling that the FTC has no right to apply for a preliminary injunction to block the deal, which was completed in 2023.

The collegial panel of three judges unanimously ruled that the lower court applied the correct legal standards and pointed out that the FTC failed to prove that its claim was likely to hold. The FTC believes that the merger and acquisition transaction will limit market competition. The ruling originated from the FTC's antitrust lawsuit filed by Microsoft in 2022 against Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is the largest merger and acquisition deal in the video game industry in history. The deal was officially completed by the end of 2023 after obtaining approval from the UK competition regulator. Previously, the acquisition case also faced regulatory scrutiny in many international markets.

As of press time, an FTC spokesperson declined to comment. Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment. (Author/Xiao Yu)

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