What's Going On With Activision Blizzard Stock Tuesday?

Activision Blizzard, Inc ATVI stock is trading higher by over 10% Tuesday after Microsoft Corp MSFT won a court permit to move forward with its $69 billion deal to buy Activision.

The decision by Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in San Francisco means Microsoft could close its merger with Activision ahead of a July 18 deadline everywhere except for the U.K., which vetoed the deal in May, Bloomberg reports.

Scott Corley denied the FTC’s preliminary injunction, which sought to block the deal because it would harm gamers. 

Microsoft has said the deal would help it add mobile games. Activision owns King, the maker of Candy Crush. 

The combination will vault Microsoft to the No. 3 slot among global video-game companies behind China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd TCEHY, the publisher of League of Legends, and game console rival Sony Group Corp SONY, Microsoft had said.

At a June hearing, the FTC argued that Microsoft’s acquisition would harm competition since the combined company could withhold critical titles from rival consoles and subscription services, like the top-selling shooter game Call of Duty. 

Microsoft had forged deals with Nvidia Corp NVDA, Nintendo Co, Ltd NTDOF NTDOY, Boosteroid, and Nware to end the regulatory opposition against its Activision deal.

Price Action: ATVI shares traded higher by 10.90% at $91.75 on the last check Tuesday.

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