Microsoft, Activision ask judge for speedy schedule in FTC challenge

FILE PHOTO: Microsoft logo is seen on a smartphone placed on displayed Activision Blizzard's games characters in this illustration taken January 18, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Time is running out on a deadline for Microsoft to complete its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, compelling the companies to ask a U.S. judge on Wednesday to quickly get the ball rolling on the Federal Trade Commission's legal bid to block the deal.

U.S. District Judge Edward Davila on Tuesday had set a June 22-23 evidentiary hearing in San Francisco and temporarily blocked the companies from completing the deal pending a decision by another judge on the same court on whether to grant a preliminary injunction.