Joaquín Almunia, the EU competition commissioner, will clear the deal after receiving technical concessions from the software giant, the Financial Times said on Thursday. The article noted that the “decision to clear the takeover without a hitch confirms what has been a dramatic about-turn in Microsoft’s fortunes in Brussels,” as the American company has been the target of high profile European competition investigations over the past decade.
Microsoft is paying US$8.5 billion for the Internet voice company, which is currently controlled by California private equity firm Silver Lake. Microsoft announced the acquisition May 10 and hopes to complete the transaction by the end of the year.
It received approval from US competition authorities in June, although reviews continue in Russia, Serbia, Taiwan and Ukraine, the FT wrote.
Microsoft has pointed to robust rivals such as Google Talk in arguing that it will not corner the market for web calling, and has guaranteed Skype will continue to run on competitive systems such as Apple’s iPhone and iPad and Google’s Android devices.
Thursday morning a Microsoft spokesman told Delano that “for the moment we have nothing to announce” as the company is still waiting for the EU’s decision.
Citing its policy, a spokeswoman in the European competition commissioner’s office declined to comment before any official announcement is made.
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