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A December trial to decide if Meta could go forward with the
relatively small deal was seen as a test of the FTC's bid to
head off what it sees as a repeat of the company acquiring small
upcoming would-be rivals to dominate a market, this time in the
nascent virtual and augmented reality markets.
The ruling had been issued in a sealed form earlier this week.
The version issued on Friday evening was redacted.
A Meta spokesperson said the Facebook and Instagram owner was
"pleased that the Court has denied the FTC’s motion to block our
acquisition of Within."
"We look forward to closing the transaction soon," the
spokesperson said in a statement.
The FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Judge Edward Davila of the U.S. District Court for the Northern
District of California said the FTC had failed to show that Meta
would have entered the market to make dedicated fitness content
if it was unable to buy Within.
"Though Meta boasts considerable financial and VR engineering
resources, it did not possess the capabilities unique to VR
dedicated fitness apps, specifically fitness content creation
and studio production facilities," the judge wrote.
The decision is good news for Meta boss and founder Mark
Zuckerberg, who defended the acquisition in testimony in
December, arguing that his company was helping to build but not
dominate the virtual reality industry.
Zuckerberg had testified in federal court in San Jose,
California, that owning Within was "not that critical" to Meta's
ambitions and that it was "less important that we own the
experiences than that they exist."
The FTC sued Meta in July to stop the Within deal, asking the
judge to order a preliminary injunction, saying Meta's "campaign
to conquer VR" began in 2014 when it acquired Oculus, a VR
headset manufacturer.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Lincoln Feast and William
Mallard)
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