A federal appeals courtroom denied a Federal Commerce Fee request to cease the $68.7 billion Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard at the moment.

The denial may clear the best way for the deal to shut within the subsequent few days.

A 3-judge appeals courtroom panel denied the movement for injunctive reduction filed this week by the Federal Commerce Fee, which sought to dam the merge on antitrust grounds. There’s nonetheless yet another hurdle the businesses face with the antitrust regulatory physique in the UK.

However the U.S. company was the largest impediment. The FTC can attraction to the U.S. Supreme Courtroom, however the odds of the nation’s highest courtroom intervening are fairly low. The deal is ready to shut on July 18. If it doesn’t Microsoft may need to pay a $3 billion penalty to Activision Blizzard.

“We respect the Ninth Circuit’s swift response denying the FTC’s movement to additional delay the deal. This brings us one other step nearer to the end line on this marathon of worldwide regulatory evaluations,” stated Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, in a press release. And Activision Blizzard tweeted the next:

The FTC filed to dam the deal in December 2022. However after arguing its case earlier than a federal decide, it didn’t persuade the courtroom that the acquisition of the Name of Obligation maker would hurt customers. Within the meantime, Microsoft has pledged to make Name of Obligation obtainable on different platforms for at the least 10 years.