The Federal Trade Commission has been unsuccessful in its last-ditch effort to pump the brakes on Microsoft completing its $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declined to grant the agency an emergency stay of a ruling that allowed the deal to proceed in the US.

A temporary restraining order was put in place last month to prevent Microsoft and Activision from closing the acquisition until Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley ruled on the FTC's request for preliminary injunction. When Corley rejected the FTC's injunction request this week, she ruled that the agency had until 11:59PM PT on July 14th to obtain an emergency stay from the appeals court. Otherwise, Microsoft and Activision would be free to close the deal in the US after that time.

Corley determined the FTC didn't prove its arguments that the merger would harm consumers. The FTC on Wednesday filed a notice that it planned to appeal Corley's decision. On Thursday, it asked the district court that ruled on the preliminary injunction in the first place to block the merger pending a decision from the appeals court. Hours later, Corley denied that motion.

Back in December, the FTC sued to block the deal on the grounds that it would harm competition. An administrative hearing is set for early August. The agency sought a preliminary injunction to prevent the companies from closing the merger until the antitrust trial takes place. However, the merger deadline is July 18th.

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are evidently confident of closing the deal by their Tuesday deadline. Activision’s stock will be delisted from the Nasdaq-100 index before the stock market opens on Monday, so the companies may finally seal the deal around that time. 

Microsoft and Activision have yet to resolve issues with a UK regulator, which had blocked the deal over cloud gaming concerns. The companies and the Competition and Markets Authority agreed to put their legal battle on hold to try and resolve the regulator's concerns. The CMA said Microsoft and Activision were welcome to restructure the deal but warned that move may trigger a fresh merger investigation.

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Adobe is now facing tighter scrutiny of its $20 billion Figma acquisition. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an in-depth investigation of the deal after Adobe declined to make concessions that would resolve antitrust concerns. The "phase 2" probe will have a group of independent experts determine whether or not the merger will reduce competition in design software. The CMA has until December 27th to complete the review.

We've asked Adobe for comment. The company rejected the CMA's claims when plans for the new investigation were unveiled in June, and was still confident it would complete the buyout. It previously said it would treat Figma as an independent company and didn't have plans to raise prices.

The CMA's initial inquiry determined that Figma's web collaboration platform had significant market share, and that a competitive "rivalry" would vanish if Adobe bought the relative newcomer. This could lead to higher prices and less innovation, the Authority said at the time. Adobe, meanwhile, has argued that buying Figma would strengthen both companies' products. Creative Cloud apps would get some of Figma's collaborative features, while Figma's platform would receive some of Adobe's functionality. 

Adobe still hopes to close the Figma merger by the end of the year. It still faces a US investigation, however, and the European Union will make its decision by August 7th. There's no guarantee the purchase will wrap on time or at all, in other words. If any one of these agencies blocks the merger or conducts a prolonged review, Adobe will have to rethink its plans.

The Federal Trade Commission isn't giving up on its attempt to halt Microsoft's pending $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard. The agency has appealed Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley's denial of its request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily stop the deal from going through.

The FTC has sued to prevent the merger from happening over antitrust concerns. An administrative trial is set to start in August, but the companies have a merger deadline of July 18th. The agency was concerned Microsoft and Activision would close their deal by then despite a UK regulator blocking the deal in that country.

Bloomberg first reported that the agency was considering an appeal against Corley's decision. The FTC told Engadget after Tuesday's ruling that it would announce its "next step to continue our fight to preserve competition and protect consumers" in the following days.

Corley ruled that, unless the FTC obtains an emergency stay from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals by 11:59PM PT on July 14th, a temporary restraining order that's currently preventing Microsoft and Activision from closing the deal will be dissolved. The restraining order was put in place until Corley made a decision on the preliminary injunction.

Meanwhile, after Corley's ruling, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority said they agreed to pause their legal battle and see if they could reach a compromise. The CMA later clarified that although "merging parties don’t have the opportunity to put forward new remedies once a final report has been issued, they can choose to restructure a deal." It added that doing so could lead to a fresh merger investigation, which would likely delay the takeover beyond July 18th.

Broadcom just took a big step toward clinching its $61 billion purchase of VMware, albeit with some requirements attached. The EU's European Commission has approved the merger following a months-long investigation of the potential competitive harm. Officials found that Broadcom only had limited opportunities to abuse its power, and that some remedies could ensure healthy competition going forward.

The Commission determined that Broadcom doesn't have a "strong position" that could hurt competition in network and storage adapters, and that it wouldn't have an incentive to limit a networking partnership with AMD and NVIDIA. It also couldn't bundle VMware with its own software. Broadcom would, however have the motivation to squeeze its longtime rival Marvell by limiting the compatibility of that company's Fiber Channel adapters with VMware.

To address this, the EU regulator will require that Broadcom offer third parties the tools to make compatible Fiber Channel adapters. The firm will also have to provide source code for the drivers that run those adapters. Ideally, companies will know that their equipment works properly with VMware's server virtualization technology.

In a statement, Broadcom says that it "continue[s] to make progress" in getting approvals for the merger, and points to similar arrangements in countries like Australia, Canada and South Africa. It's still facing reviews from the US Federal Trade Commission and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority.

If the deal closes, it will represent one of the largest tech acquisitions yet. Only Dell's purchase of EMC ($67 billion) and Microsoft's tentative buyout of Activision Blizzard ($68.7 billion) are larger. For Broadcom, this would also be a pivotal expansion — it would make a deep dive into enterprise software that could help it control more of the business world. To some degree, it would also help Broadcom make up for its failed takeover of Qualcomm in 2018.

A judge has rejected the Federal Trade Commission's request for a preliminary injunction to prevent Microsoft from buying Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. Both Microsoft and Activision said they'd abandon the blockbuster merger if Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley granted the injunction.

"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.” Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in a statement.

"We're grateful to the court in San Francisco for this quick and thorough decision and hope other jurisdictions will continue working towards a timely resolution." Microsoft president and vice chair Brad Smith said. "As we've demonstrated consistently throughout this process, we are committed to working creatively and collaboratively to address regulatory concerns."

The FTC sued to block the merger last December and a hearing in its administrative proceeding is set for August 2nd. However, the merger agreement has a deadline of July 18th, so Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are eager to close the deal by then. Otherwise, Microsoft will be on the hook for a $3 billion breakup fee to Activision unless the two sides are able to renegotiate terms. As such, they wanted the court to review the FTC's injunction request swiftly.

The companies claimed that, if the preliminary injunction were granted, it would "effectively block the transaction because the FTC's process is 'glacial' and one no substantial business transaction could ever survive."

Along with the FTC, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority is the only other national antitrust regulator that has formally challenged the Activision takeover. Microsoft and Activision are appealing the CMA's decision to block the merger over cloud gaming concerns. The appeal process that can take several months. There are suggestions that the companies will lock in the deal regardless.

That prompted the FTC to request an injunction in the hopes of being able to "assess the legality of the proposed acquisition" in next month's hearing before the deal closes. "Press reports began circulating suggesting that defendants were seriously contemplating closing the proposed acquisition despite the pending administrative litigation and the CMA orders," the FTC's request read. 

Corley issued a ruling following a five-day trial in June that saw all manner of juicy gaming industry secrets and emails between industry leaders laid bare for all to see. For one thing, we learned that MachineGames' Indiana Jones project was originally going to be a multiplatform game, but after Microsoft bought ZeniMax, it made the title an Xbox console exclusive.

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard aren't entirely in the clear. Regulators in dozens of countries have cleared the deal, including in the European Union. However, the UK antitrust authority presented a significant road block (an appeal process will start with a hearing later this month). The FTC's administrative trial is pending and it can still appeal Corley's decision. However, the companies have cleared a major hurdle by winning this particular battle. 

A temporary restraining order stipulated that Microsoft and Activision are unable to close the merger "until after 11:59PM Pacific Time on the fifth business day after the court rules on the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction or a date set by the court, whichever is later." Still, they just about have time to seal the deal before their deadline.

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Sega is not for sale, according to company COO Shuji Utsumi. The executive told Bloomberg News that the company isn’t open to acquisition talks at the moment, despite rampant speculation that Microsoft was about to swoop in and force a shotgun wedding between Sonic and Master Chief.

Some of these rumors popped up due to a general consolidation trend in the gaming industry, with big fish gobbling up everything in sight. Microsoft’s one of the biggest fish of all and it’s been many years since Sega sat on top of the gaming throne, despite remaining a solid developer and publisher. Also, a potential merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard led to the FTC filing an antitrust lawsuit, which is ongoing. During the associated trial, it was revealed that Microsoft had many companies on its wishlist, including Sega. So the rumor mill continued unabated.

Utsumi declined to comment as to whether or not Microsoft approached Sega with an acquisition offer, but touted the “great relationship” between the two companies. This relationship has been on full display in recent years, with former Playstation exclusives from the Yakuza series to the Persona series showing up on Xbox consoles. A next-gen refresh of Yakuza: Like a Dragon was even an Xbox Series X/S exclusive for a few months before going multi-platform.

The budding corporate friendship (aww) is extremely important to Microsoft, as Sega titles are popular in Japan and, well, Xbox consoles aren’t. This is another reason the acquisition rumors spread so readily. However, Sega will remain as Sega Sammy Holdings for the time being, even if documents indicate that Microsoft was, at one point, ready to fork over serious cash to buy the house that Sonic built. Speaking of, there’s a new sidescrolling Sonic title launching later this year along with a new sidescrolling Mario. What is this, 1991?

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) plans to perform an in-depth probe into Adobe’s acquisition of Figma, the agency announced today (viaThe Wall Street Journal). Citing concerns about “a substantial lessening of competition” for screen design software, it plans to move into a “phase two” investigation. However, it’s giving the companies five business days to “offer legally binding proposals” to address the concerns; if their response doesn’t satisfy the CMA, the probe will begin. Adobe announced its plans last year to buy its smaller rival for $20 billion.

“The CMA found that Figma has established a substantial share of the market for screen design software and that Adobe has been continuously investing in and competing in this segment,” the UK agency, which recently rejected Microsoft’s proposed $75 billion purchase of Activision, wrote today. “The CMA found that competition between Figma and Adobe has driven investment in updating and developing screen design software, and this important rivalry could be lost if the deal goes ahead.” It described Figma as “an emerging competitive threat” to the Photoshop maker, expressing concerns about the reduced innovation that could come from Adobe scooping up an upstart competitor. The agency said it’s concerned the acquisition could lead to higher costs and fewer / less innovative products.

Adobe’s purchase of San Francisco-based Figma, founded in 2012, would be the largest-ever acquisition for the 41-year-old design behemoth. In Sigma’s 11 years on the market, it has established itself as a popular tool for vector-based design. The cloud-based software specializes in remote collaboration and is a direct competitor to Adobe’s XD and Illustrator products. At the time of the acquisition, Adobe said it wanted to bring features from its Creative Cloud suite into the collaborative software while incorporating more of Figma’s team-focused features into its core products — predictably framing it as a win-win for customers. The company added it was “deeply committed” to keeping Figma an independent company while insisting there was “no plan” to change its pricing — including its free tier.

“We’re worried this deal could stifle innovation and lead to higher costs for companies that rely on Figma and Adobe’s digital tools — as they cease to compete to provide customers with new and better products,” said Sorcha O’Carroll, the CMA’s Senior Mergers Director. “Unless Adobe can put forward viable solutions to our concerns in the coming days, we will move to a more in-depth investigation.”

Vodafone has announced its intentions to merge with Three, pulling together the UK’s two remaining standalone mobile networks. The move comes in a market that has seen major consolidations in recent years between Virgin Media's merger with O2 and BT Group's purchase of EE. If regulators approve the deal, Vodafone and Three's new company will become the largest mobile phone operator in the UK, with an estimated 27 million customers. 

"Three UK and Vodafone UK currently lack the necessary scale on their own to earn their cost of capital. This has long been a challenge for Three UK's ability to invest and compete," (Three Owner) CK Hutchinson Group Co-Managing Director Canning Fok said in a statement. "Together, we will have the scale needed to deliver a best-in-class 5G network for the UK, transforming mobile services for our customers and opening up new opportunities for businesses across the length and breadth of the UK." Vodafone will own 51 percent of the company, while CK Hutchinson controls the rest. 

The merger with Vodafone isn't the first time Three has tried to couple up with a competitor. In 2015, its parent company announced plans to buy O2 for £10.25 billion ($12.96 billion), but the European Commission and Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the purchase over concerns of "reduced competition" and "higher prices." However, O2 was able to merge with Virgin Media in 2021 after the CMA determined that similar concerns were unfounded. Vodafone and Three are attempting to sweeten the latest deal with a promise to invest £11 billion ($13.9 billion) across ten years in the UK's 5G infrastructure, in line with the government's targets.

The FTC has notched a win, albeit a temporary one, in its bid to prevent Microsoft from closing its deal with Activision Blizzard. According to The Financial Times and Bloomberg, a US federal judge has issued an order that temporarily blocks the companies from finalizing their $68.7 billion deal while waiting for the court to decide on the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction. If you'll recall, the agency has filed for an injunction in response to news reports that the companies were closing the deal "imminently" and that they had set July 18th as the target deadline for the acquisition.

Judge Edward J. Davila has ruled that the merger can't take place until five days after the court has decided on whether or not to issue an injunction against it. To note, the court is scheduled to hear the FTC's request for an injunction on June 22nd and 23rd, so the earliest the companies can proceed with their plans is the end of this month — if the court doesn't ultimately side with the agency. The commission said in its filing:

"With control of Activision's content, Microsoft would have the ability and increased incentive to withhold or degrade Activision’s content in ways that substantially lessen competition — including competition on product quality, price, and innovation."

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, however, seem to be unperturbed by the FTC's lawsuit. In a statement, Microsoft told us that the injunction request is "accelerating the legal process" that will help the merger move forward sooner. "A temporary restraining order makes sense until we can receive a decision from the court, which is moving swiftly," a spokesperson also told The Times. 

In May, the European Union approved the acquisition, as long as Microsoft agreed to release popular Activision Blizzard games on competing cloud gaming services. But the companies still have to convince US and UK authorities to allow the merger to push through. The FTC filed an antitrust complaint in December 2022 to block the deal over worries that it "would enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business." That particular lawsuit was filed at the agency's in-house court, and the commission's administrative law judge is scheduled to hear the case in August. 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is already suing to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activsion Blizzard, but now it's reportedly taking steps to halt the deal before the July 18th deadline for the merger. A CNBCsource claims the FTC is poised to file for an injunction that would prevent the merger from closing as scheduled.

We've asked the FTC and Microsoft for comment. Microsoft tells CNBC the injunction will put the case in front of a federal judge sooner. In previous statements, Microsoft has downplayed the deal and claims that Activision Blizzard doesn't have "must have" games. It even suggests Sony has higher-quality exclusives. The FTC, however, notes that Activision is one of just a few giant game publishers that publish major titles across platforms.

The lawsuit is going before the FTC's own administrative law judge in August. That official will make a decision that can appeal to the Commission for a vote. If the agency votes against the merger, Microsoft can appeal to a federal court to challenge the outcome.

The reported injunction comes weeks after the UK's Competition and Markets Authority said it would block the $68.7 billion purchase. The regulator is concerned Microsoft may buy its way into a monopoly of the young cloud gaming space, giving it up to 70 percent market share. Microsoft has tried to assuage those fears by striking deals with game streaming providers to put titles on their services. The tech giant has also tried to address fears of a Call of Duty Xbox exclusive by promising multi-platform releases for a decade.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.