Microsoft wins appeal in FTC challenge to $69 billion Activision Blizzard deal

A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected a legal challenge by the Federal Trade Commission to Microsoft‘s $69 billion purchase of “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower judge’s order that said the FTC was not entitled to a preliminary injunction blocking the deal, which closed in 2023.

A three-judge panel unanimously ruled that the lower judge had applied the correct legal standards and said the FTC had not shown it was likely to succeed on its claims that the merger…