BRUSSELS — European Union regulators on Thursday launched an antitrust probe into U.S. software maker Oracle Corp.'s takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc., saying they wanted to make sure Oracle was committed to developing Sun's rival open-source database software MySQL.
EU approval is now the main stumbling block for the $7.4 billion deal which has already been cleared in the U.S. by the Department of Justice.
The European Commission now has 90 days — until Jan. 19, 2010 — before it makes a final decision to clear the deal or block it. It often presses companies to make changes that eliminate antitrust worries, such as selling off parts of their business.
EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said Thursday that regulators needed to examine the effect of a deal "when the world's biggest proprietary database company proposes to take over the world's leading open-source database company."
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