On Friday, a judge issued a ruling denying the Federal Trade Commission’s request to block Meta Platforms from buying virtual reality content maker Via Unlimited, dismissing the regulator’s concerns that the deal would usher in a new market. will reduce competition.
a December test to decide meta was seen as a test of whether a relatively small deal could go ahead FTCKey’s bid as a repeat of the company’s pursuit of smaller up-and-coming rivals looking to dominate a market, this time in the nascent virtual and augmented reality markets.
The decision was released in a sealed cover earlier this week. The version released on Friday evening was edited.
a meta spokesperson said Facebook And Instagram The owner was “pleased that the court has denied the FTC’s motion to block our insider acquisition.”
“We look forward to completing the transaction shortly,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Judge Edward Davila, US District Court for the Northern District of California, said the FTC had failed to show that Meta would have entered the market to make dedicated fitness equipment if it had been unable to buy within.
“Although Meta has considerable financial and VR engineering resources, it did not have unique capabilities we are dedicated fitness appsSpecifically fitness content creation and studio production facilities,” the judge wrote.
The decision is good news for Meta boss and founder Mark Zuckerberg, who defended the acquisition in testimony in December, arguing that his company was helping to create but not dominate the virtual reality industry.
Zuckerberg testified in federal court in San Jose, California that owning the inside was “not that important” to Meta’s ambitions and that it was “less important that we own the experiences than that they exist.”
The FTC sued Meta in July, asking the judge to order a preliminary injunction, following Meta’s “drive to win VR” that began in 2014, when it acquired VR headset maker Oculus.
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