Activision gains after judge appointed in FTC case to block Microsoft deal
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Activision (NASDAQ:ATVI) rose 1.3% after a judge was appointed to the Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit to gain an injunction blocking its $69 billion planned sale to Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). 
U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley will be handling the case, according to the court docket for the case filed in San Francisco.
Corley is the same judge who last month denied a preliminary injunction in a separate lawsuit from video gamers who were seeking to block the Activision (ATVI) deal. In March, Corley originally granted Microsoft's (MSFT) motion to dismiss the case, though she gave gamers 20 days to amend the lawsuit.
The gamers originally sued Microsoft (MSFT) in December, trying to get the court to stop the software giant from completing its acquisition of Activision (ATVI).
The FTC originally filed a lawsuit in December to block the $95 per share Activision deal, though the suit was through an in-house administrative court proceeding that's scheduled to take place in August.
On Monday, the FTC asked for a preliminary injunction and a temporary restraining order in federal court to stop Microsoft from completing its planned $69 billion acquisition of Activision (ATVI).
The move from the FTC comes after reports, including MLex, that Microsoft (MSFT) may be looking at ways to close the Activision (ATVI) deal around the UK antitrust regulator's block of it. The appeal of UK's Competition and Markets Authority attempt to block the videogame deal is set for July 24.
The ATVI/MSFT deal has a termination deadline of July 18, where the parties can walk away, extend, or renegotiate the deal. 
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