Judge temporarily blocks Microsoft’s Activision acquisition at the request of the FTC

A judge in California has approved the FTC’s request to temporarily block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. An evidentiary hearing will take place on June 22 where Microsoft’s objection will probably be discussed.

The court accepts the temporary retraining order that the American trade regulator Federal Trade Commission requested on Monday, because the FTC says it is difficult to investigate the takeover if this process has already been initiated. According to the federal court, temporarily blocking the deal is “necessary to maintain the status quo until the indictment has been decided.” Because Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard can only appeal for two days at the end of this month, the deal worth almost 70 billion dollars, approved by many regulators, will not be able to go ahead for the time being.

Now that the federal judge has agreed to the FTC’s request, the takeover case will continue to be dealt with in court. Microsoft said in a statement told Reuters rather that such a process is welcomed. Now the company is also talking about ‘accelerating the legal process’, which conveys that these steps are necessary to implement the final deal.