The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said it will not challenge its loss in federal court in its fight to stop Meta Platforms from buying VR content maker Within Unlimited, but could still take the case before an internal FTC administrative judge follow up.
Judge Edward Davila of the US District Court for the Northern District of California last week declined to stop Meta from acquiring the VR content maker and dismissing regulators’ concerns that the deal would reduce competition in a new market.
A FTC An official said no decision has yet been made on whether the agency will seek to stop the deal in a proceeding before an FTC administrative judge. The hearing is scheduled for February 13th.
Meta declined to comment on the decision not to appeal last week’s verdict in federal court.
The FTC sued Meta in July to stop it Within Deal and asked the judge to order a restraining order. Meta’s “campaign to conquer VR” began in 2014 with the acquisition of Oculus, a VR headset maker.
Meta did not disclose what Within was paid for, but technical publication the Information put the price at around US$400 million (approximately Rs.3,300 billion).
A December trial to decide whether Meta could proceed with the relatively small deal was seen as a test of the FTC’s bid to fend off a repeat of the company’s acquisition of small up-and-coming potential competitors, this time to dominate a market in the emerging virtual and augmented reality markets.
The FTC has separately filed an ongoing lawsuit against Meta’s Facebook, asking a court in 2020 to force it to sell subsidiaries Instagram And Whatsappand said the social media company used a “buy or bury” strategy to snap up competitors and keep smaller competitors at bay.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
