WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission will not appeal its loss in federal court in its fight to stop Meta Platforms from buying VR content maker Within Unlimited, but could still pursue the case with an internal FTC administrative law judge.
Judge Edward Davila of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California last week declined to stop Meta from acquiring the VR content maker, rejecting the regulator’s concerns the deal would reduce competition in a new market.
An FTC official said that no decision had yet been made as to whether the agency would try to stop the deal in a process before an FTC administrative law judge.
Meta declined to comment on the decision not to appeal last week’s ruling in federal court.
A December trial to decide if Meta could go forward with the relatively small deal was seen as a test of the FTC’s bid to head off what it sees as a repeat of the company acquiring small upcoming would-be rivals to dominate a market, this time in the nascent virtual and augmented reality markets.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
