An order was withdrawn by the Federal Trade Commission. antitrust complaint challenging Meta Platforms Inc.’s purchase of virtual-reality startup Within Unlimited, officially closing the agency’s case.
The FTC Last year, the government was sued in an attempt to block the agreement. Federal court filed two complaints. and Its in-house court. The following are its in-house courts a Trial in December a San Jose Federal Court. US District Judge Edward Davila found in favor of MetaThe ruling FTC didn’t offer enough evidence to prove that the acquisition would harm competition in the nascent virtual-reality industry.
The FTC opted this month against appealing Davila’s decision and The administrative was halted case While it considered the next steps. Although the judge’s ruling allowed Meta To close the deal by Feb. 10, FTC It could have been continued case In administrative court and The transaction was renegotiated. However, Friday saw the transaction renegotiated. FTC Voted to withdraw the complaint and Stop the case.
“We’re excited that the Within team has joined Meta, and we’re eager to partner with this talented group in bringing the future of VR fitness to life,” a Meta A spokesperson stated that a statement.
This is the first significant loss in the history of the company. FTC Chair Lina KhanPresident Joe Biden appointed a man named ‘Revive the Nation,’ to do this. antitrust enforcement.
Khan It was taken a More aggressive than her predecessors in pursuing mergers and stepped up the agency’s focus on technology giants because of their potential to quickly dominate budding markets. This is The FTC has also challenged Microsoft Corp.’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc. on similar grounds — that allowing the acquisition would give the dominant platform a You can get a head start in the cloud-gaming industry.
The FTC Maintains that the losing of case wasn’t all bad: Davila’s decision recognized the agency’s theory that mergers that don’t immediately hurt competition but have the potential to do so in the future should be blocked.
“The judge sided with the FTC on basically every question of law and laid out a very clear opinion that said the way we were interpreting the law was correct,” Rebecca Kelly Slaughter a Democratic member of the commission, said of Davila’s decision at a Conference in Arlington, Virginia on Friday
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