Microsoft and Activision Seek Accelerated Timeline in FTC Dispute
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are racing against the clock to finalize their $69 billion merger as the deadline approaches. To expedite the process, the companies have requested a U.S. judge to accelerate the Federal Trade Commission’s legal challenge to the acquisition.
On Tuesday, US District Judge Edward Davila had set the 22nd-23rd. to San Francisco for an evidentiary hearing in June and temporarily blocked the companies from completing the deal until another judge in the same court rules on whether to grant a preliminary injunction.
The hearing will focus on whether the transaction will be postponed pending the administrative judge’s hearing. But the companies said that if the temporary stay is granted, they would have to walk away from the deal altogether because the “iceberg” of the FTC’s review would make waiting impractical.
“Time is of the essence,” the companies wrote in the court filing, noting that the contract has a termination date of July 18 and includes a $3 billion termination fee that Microsoft would have to pay.
“There is no question, the early decision is the only decision that matters in these challenging deadlines.”
The FTC declined to comment.
The companies asked the court to set aside at least five days for the evidentiary hearing, which will begin on June 22 and last until June 26. They also asked for a case management conference to be held on Thursday, but stressed that they were not going to delay. resolution by requesting a longer evidentiary hearing.
If the court grants the FTC a preliminary injunction, “it will effectively prevent the transaction because the FTC process is a ‘glacier’ and no significant transaction could ever clear,” Microsoft and Activision wrote, referring to the 1986 case.
The FTC’s administrative hearing begins on August 2.
The FTC has argued that the deal would give Microsoft’s Xbox video game console exclusive access to Activision games, leaving Nintendo consoles and Sony Group Corporation’s PlayStation out in the cold.
Microsoft’s bid for the “Call of Duty” video game maker received EU approval in May, but British competition authorities blocked the takeover in April.
