Microsoft’s victory in its legal battle against the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has become a positive sign for investors. This caused Activision Blizzard’s share price to skyrocket.
- On July 11, a California judge denied the FTC’s preliminary injunction request to block Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The courtroom victory also gave a chance that the $68.7 billion deal could be closed before the July 18 deadline.
- As a result, the Call of Duty maker’s stock jumped 10% from its previous close of $82.7 per share to $90.99 per share.
- The last time Activision Blizzard shares were at this high was on July 23, 2021, when they traded at $91.5 per share.
- The current price is lower than Microsoft’s original bid of $95 per share. It is also far from Activision Blizzard’s all-time high level of $103.81 per share (February 2021).
- Microsoft stock remained virtually flat, rising just 0.19% to $332.4 per share.
- As pointed out by the Financial Times, the surge in Activision Blizzard’s share price suggests that most investors “believe the deal was now all but certain to be completed.”
Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been cleared in almost all major jurisdictions, including the US (yesterday’s victory over the FTC) and the EU, where the European Commission approved the merger in May.
However, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority blocked the acquistion over cloud gaming market concerns. Microsoft, which has already appealed the ruling, is now trying to offer new remedies and find the acceptable solution to close the deal before the deadline.