FTC seeking prior approval of Meta Platforms deals
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The Federal Trade Commission will continue to pursue its case personally against Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg over the company's planned acquisition of VR app maker Within, and it has asked the in-house court to force Meta and Zuckerberg to get prior approval from the FTC for future deals.
Meta sought to acquire Within Unlimited, which makes the virtual reality fitness app Supernatural, but the FTC opened a probe into the deal in December 2021, and at the end of July sued to block it.
That case is playing out two ways: A federal court in California has set a six-day hearing for December to decide whether to stay the deal, and the FTC is pursuing a January trial at the agency's in-house judge.
And the FTC has agreed to dismiss Zuckerberg from the federal case but not the internal proceeding, because it's pursuing a broader legal remedy, Bloomberg noted.
Not only would the in-house action block the Within deal, it would call on the company and Zuckerberg to seek approval for future mergers or acquisitions (rather than just for deals valued at $101M or more).