At the hearing, US District Judge Jacqueline Corley will
weigh a request that she issue a preliminary injunction barring the proposed
acquisition.
The deal would mark the largest-ever in gaming if it is
completed. Microsoft has defended the tie-up as benefiting gamers, and its
lawyers have asked Corley to deny blocking the acquisition.
"What plaintiffs ask this court to do is unprecedented.
They have not cited a single case where a court has enjoined a merger based on
alleged harms claimed by a few individual consumers," Microsoft's lawyers
told Corley in a May 5 court filing.
The deal, first announced in January 2022, separately faces
intense regulatory scrutiny by the US, European Union, UK, and other
competition law enforcers.
Britain's antitrust regulator said in April it would block
Microsoft's acquisition after the company failed to assuage competition
concerns.
The US Federal Trade Commission's case against the deal is
pending at the agency.
Joseph Alioto, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the gamers
have a "very strong complaint" challenging the acquisition.
A Microsoft spokesperson said the plaintiffs' complaint
contained "unsupported and implausible claims about the deal's effect on
competition."
US antitrust laws allow private consumers to sue over
proposed acquisitions in lawsuits that are distinct from any federal regulatory
actions.
Corley in March dismissed an earlier version of the
plaintiff's complaint, which she called "insufficient." She allowed
the plaintiffs to refile a more robust complaint.
The plaintiffs' lawyers on Monday urged Corley to block the
deal to allow a trial on the merits of the acquisition to take place.
"The loss of competition cannot be reclaimed," the
plaintiffs' attorneys said in a court filing. "Unwinding the merger after
consummation is highly problematic and disfavored, making divestiture
post-consummation significantly more difficult."
The case is Demartini v. Microsoft, US District Court for
the Northern District of California, No. 3:22-cv-08991.
© Reuters
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