A California court has allowed Meta* Platforms to close its acquisition of Within, a VR startup that develops a fitness app for the metaverse. This comes despite an ongoing antitrust investigation into Mark Zuckerberg’s company launched last year by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Image Source: Within
According to Bloomberg, a court this week denied the FTC’s motion to halt completion of Meta*’s acquisition of Within. From the date of the decision, the FTC has a week to file an appeal. The FTC v. Meta* hearing will take place on February 7th.
According to the regulator, Meta* originally planned to develop its own fitness app for the metaverse. However, the company ultimately abandoned this, deciding to absorb the startup Within, which has been developing the Supernatural project for some time. The FTC felt that, among other things, this deal will help Meta* eliminate a potential competitor that the company may have if Within continues to develop its application on its own. The FTC has a few days left to appeal and try again to block the deal.
“We are pleased that the court has denied the FTC’s motion to block the acquisition of Within. This deal will bring a competitive edge to the ecosystem and drive innovation that benefits people, developers, and the VR space as a whole. We look forward to closing the transaction in the near future, ”a Meta * representative commented on the court decision.
* Included in the list of public associations and religious organizations in respect of which the court made a final decision to liquidate or ban activities on the grounds provided for by Federal Law No. 114-FZ of July 25, 2002 “On countering extremist activity.”
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