The appeals court rejected the Federal Trade Commission's appeal for a restraining order to stop Microsoft's purchasing of game developer Activision Blizzard. Microsoft is still in talks with United Kingdom regulators to settle the matter and they hope to finish the agreement by July 18.Microsoft is now on the brink of sealing its $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard, with only the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority standing in the way of completion. On Friday, the U.S. Appeals Court for the 9th Circuit denied the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) motion to halt the deal, which followed five days of court hearings.Brad Smith, Microsoft's president and vice chair, said in a statement: "We appreciate the Ninth Circuit's swift response denying the FTC's motion to further delay the deal. This brings us another step closer to the finish line in this marathon of global regulatory reviews."The FTC had initially filed to block the acquisition last December, and subsequently attempted to issue an emergency injunction before an administrative law judge could take it up, arguing that the transaction was anti-competitive. Microsoft, however, has asserted that it would instead make games more widely available.On Tuesday, the federal judge in San Francisco denied the FTC's preliminary relief application, leading the agency to appeal the decision. The FTC requested a temporary injunction while the court deliberated the matter, claiming the district judge had applied the wrong legal standard in the ruling.Despite the FTC's efforts, Microsoft is now making its final run for completion of the transaction, with only the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority left to approve it before the July 18 deadline.
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