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A federal court has issued a temporary restraining order that will prevent Microsoft from closing its $68.7 billion deal\u00a0to acquire Activision Blizzard \u2014 at least for now. The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint on Monday<\/a> seeking to get the restraining order and a preliminary injunction, and the court has agreed<\/a> to the restraining order while it considers that injunction. If the courts grant the injunction as well, the FTC would have a chance to make its legal case before any deal can be done.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As a result of today\u2019s order, Microsoft and Activision cannot complete the acquisition until \u201cafter 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on the fifth business day after the Court rules on the FTC\u2019s request for a preliminary injunction\u201d or a date set by the court (whichever is later). The court has also set an evidentiary hearing on the preliminary injunction for June 22nd and 23rd, so it\u2019s extremely unlikely these companies will close the transaction this month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Microsoft and Activision announced the planned acquisition in January 2022<\/a>, and in the months since, it has faced enormous regulatory scrutiny. Although EU regulators approved the deal in May<\/a>, UK regulators blocked the deal in April<\/a> (a decision that Microsoft has appealed<\/a>) and the FTC sued in December<\/a> in another attempt to block the deal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n