WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. judge ruled on Tuesday that Microsoft may go forward with its planned acquisition of blockbuster videogame maker Activision Blizzard, turning aside antitrust enforcers’ request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily stop the $69 billion deal.
The court separately extended its temporary restraining order to July 14 at 11:59 pm to allow the FTC to appeal.
“Our merger will benefit consumers and workers. It will enable competition rather than allow entrenched market leaders to continue to dominate our rapidly growing industry,” Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard CEO said in a statement.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz, writing by Kanishka Singh: Editing by Caitlin Webber)
