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

FILE PHOTO: A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft offices in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo

(Reuters) -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.