This week Meta Platforms made it one step nearer to efficiently buying Within, the studio behind health service Supernatural, in line with a report by Bloomberg.
The United States Federal Trade Commission’s effort to dam the deal hit a snag with Bloomberg reporting that US District Judge Edward Davila delivered a sealed determination that “denied the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction to block the proposed transaction while the [FTC] pursues a separate case in its in-house court”. The FTC has been investigating Meta’s competitive practices and first opened an antitrust probe into the Within acquisition in late 2021.
In July 2022, the FTC sought an injunction to stop Meta Platforms from buying Within, stating that the acquisition would “substantially lessen competition, or tend to create a monopoly, in the relevant market for VR dedicated fitness apps.” Bloomberg additionally reviews that Davila “separately issued a temporary restraining order pausing Meta from closing the transaction for a week while the FTC decides whether to appeal his ruling.”
UploadVR reached out to Meta for a press release however obtained no response.