Microsoft's planned $69 billion purchase of video game company Activision Blizzard was blocked by a federal judge Tuesday, giving more time for an antitrust review of the deal.
U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in San Francisco ruled in support of a temporary restraining order sought by the Federal Trade Commission that will stop Microsoft from closing the deal.
In a court filing Monday, the commission had sought both a restraining order and injunction to stop Microsoft’s acquisition of the California company behind hit games such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush Saga.
Microsoft, maker of the Xbox game system, has spent months trying to win worldwide approval for the merger. While a number of countries have approved the acquisition, regulators for two important economies — the U.S. and the U.K. — have taken action to stop it, arguing it could suppress competition in the video game market.
The judge said her order temporarily blocking the deal “is necessary to maintain the status quo” while the Federal Trade Commission's legal cases against it are still pending. The bar for issuing an urgent restraining order is lower than it is to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the deal. A hearing on the commission's request for an injunction is set for June 22.
The commission said it brought its case to a federal court this week because it was concerned that Microsoft was trying to imminently close the deal before the trial begins, which would make it "difficult, if not impossible” to reverse course if the acquisition was later found to be illegal.
Microsoft said in a written statement late Tuesday that “accelerating the legal process in the U.S will ultimately bring more choice and competition to the gaming market."
“A temporary restraining order makes sense until we can receive a decision from the Court, which is moving swiftly,” the company said.
The freight industry has its newest unicorn. Flock Freight recently reached the $1 billion mark after recently raising $215 million dollars. It comes during a watershed moment for the global shipping and freight industry, with the pandemic and other issues leading to the ongoing supply chain crisis.
Flock Freight and its shared truckload service may be a solution. Flock Freight CEO Oren Zaslansky joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Cannabis tech company Dutchie raised $350 million in Series D Funding in October, and Ross Lipson, CEO and co-founder, joined Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to talk about how the funds will be used to grow the business. He noted that attracting the best talent, research and development, and expanding the brand's international reach are among the top priorities with this latest round of funding. Lipson also provided a breakdown of how his company "powers a dispensaries operations" through point of sales and e-commerce transactions.
Cloud data management company Informatica made its market debut on the New York Stock Exchange today under the ticker symbol INFA. Shares ending the day even after opening at $27.55. with shares priced at $29 apiece.
This is the second time the company has gone public after being founded back in 1993. Informatica then went private in a $5 billion deal in 2015. Now, the company is reentering public markets as a subscription business with a push to the cloud. Cheddar News welcomes CEO of Informatica, Amit Walia, to discuss.
If you plan on hosting family and friends this holiday season, you may want to start stocking up on gifts right now. That's because major retailers don't anticipate the national supply chain crisis to end anytime soon. President Biden even says he's considering deploying the National Guard to ease the supply chain crisis. Melissa Gonzalez, CEO and founder of The Lionesque Group, joins Cheddar News to breakdown what consumers should expect.
It's no doubt that the pandemic has been tough on the job market. According to the Labor Department, a record four million people quit their jobs in April. Now, a new survey from Oracle is touching on mental health and how employees are demanding more from their work lives. Juergen Lindner, SVP of global software for SaaS at Oracle, joins Cheddar Wellness to talk about the findings.
The new 2023 C8 Corvette Z06 is finally here. GM's Chevrolet is holding a livestream feature film to debut the car. A panel discussion will also take place to break down everything you need to know about the vehicle. Tadge Juechter, Corvette's executive chief engineer, joins Cheddar News to talk about the new model.
Anushka Salinas, president and COO of Rent the Runway, joined Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to talk about bringing the fashion rental company to the public market after debuting on Nasdaq. Salinas also talks about the future outlook for the company after the pandemic shifted the everyday lives of working women. "As of the end of September, we're at 97 percent of our ending 2019 subscriber count, which, I think, highlights that despite the pandemic, despite delta variant still kind of lingering around, limited marketing of our business, and women not fully being back in the office, we've already brought Rent the Runway back to pre-pandemic levels," she said.
The Roots' Questlove joined Cheddar's 'Between Bells' to talk about partnering with The Balvenie Scotch whisky on a new web series called 'Quest for Craft,' where he interviews big-name guests about their creative processes. He noted that he hopes the series can act as a guide for recent college grads who might be confused about their personal path to take toward success.
