Meta Platforms Inc. learned that the US Federal Trade Commission was suing the company over one of its smaller acquisitions via a Twitter post.
The Facebook parent company had provided hundreds of pages of documents, data and other details to the FTC as part of a routine disclosure before its acquisition of Within Unlimited, a virtual reality fitness app maker, could be approved, according to people familiar with the matter. But the regulator made no indications it was about to challenge the deal, and didn’t send its legal complaint to the company, the people said.
After noticing the tweet, Meta confirmed the news by looking at the court docket, the people added. The FTC typically gives companies a chance to meet with the commissioners and argue their case before filing a suit and subsequently alerts companies with a phone call and a copy of the complaint minutes before it’s filed.
