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EU Suspends Review Into IBM Deal
Antitrust regulators suspended their probe of IBM's bid for Swedish software provider Telelogic AB until they get more details on the deal, the European Commission said Tuesday.
The European Union's executive agency said it needs more information from the companies to determine if the 557.5 million euros ($828 million) deal violated EU competition rules.
Resumption of the in-depth review will start once the requested information is given to EU officials, the commission said.
An initial EU investigation found IBM and Telelogic were direct competitors and leading vendors worldwide in software modeling and in development tools, adding that a linkup between the two "could have adverse effects on competition."
The EU had set a Feb. 20 deadline and no new date was given.
When International Business Machines Corp. announced the deal in June, the Armonk, N.Y.-based company said its acquisition of Telelogic -- which has customers mainly in the aerospace and defense, telecommunications and automotive industries -- would give clients a wider range of software and system development capabilities.
Telelogic, based in Malmo, Sweden, has U.S. headquarters in Irvine, Calif., and has more than 900 staff in 20 countries, it said on its Web site. If the deal is approved, Telelogic will be part of IBM's Rational Software unit.