: Federal appeals court denies FTC bid to pause Microsoft-Activision deal

A federal appeals court late Friday denied the Federal Trade Commission’s bid to temporarily block Microsoft Corp.’s MSFT $68.7 billion acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc. ATVI, clearing the path for the biggest gaming deal in the U.S. The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling means only UK regulators can stop closing the deal before a July 18 deadline. On Tuesday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled against the FTC, which sued to block the deal in December, prompting the FTC’s appeal on Wednesday.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.