The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has halted its in-house trial against

 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has halted its in-house trial against Microsoft's $69B acquisition of Activision Blizzard, opening the door for potential settlement talks.  The companies can now attempt to convince the agency's commissioners to accept a settlement or drop their opposition to the deal.  To challenge the mega-deal, the FTC has pursued two approaches: In the first case, the FTC is appealing a federal court ruling in favor of the deal. A district court recently denied its request for a preliminary injunction, and an appeals court also declined to block the deal, marking a win for Microsoft. The second approach was the in-house administrative trial, which the agency paused on Thursday. That case was scheduled to go to trial on August 2. Although the FTC typically dismisses the administrative case if it loses in federal court, the watchdog has the option to restart its in-house case even if the merger is completed Meanwhile, Microsoft and Activision have extended their merger agreement to October 18 to negotiate with U.K. competition regulators, who initially blocked the deal but are now giving Microsoft a second chance to propose remedies.