Buying Skype by Microsoft Corporation approved by the European Commission

The last stage in the transaction Microsoft-Skype is overcome: The European Commission approved the purchase of a VoIP-company, despite the fact that some experts had doubts about this. In addition, various companies, both large and small, previously opposed this transaction, hindering the already not very smooth process of transferring Microsoft’s Skype assets to Microsoft. But now it is too late to drink Borjomi all the difficulties behind, and Skype can be considered entirely belonging to the software giant.

The experts of the European Commission studied all aspects of the transaction, and concluded that there will not be any particular competitive problems after the transfer of Skype to Microsoft. There are other major players in this market that can provide decent competition even to such a powerful tandem. The same Google with its VoIP-service constantly attracts new users, some of whom are switching from Skype to Google Voice and its derivatives.
')
Interestingly, just a few days ago, a complaint was filed with the European Commission from a small company from Italy, who believes that Microsoft’s planned integration of Skype into its office suite poses a threat to the work of other companies ’IP services. Most likely, the complaint was either completely disregarded or a general decision was made regarding the security of the Skype-Microsoft transaction for other companies promoting their own IP telephony services.

It is worth recalling that the total value of the transaction between the software giant and Skype is 8.5 billion dollars. The US Federal Trade Commission approved the deal in June of this year. According to the partners, all the planned points of the transaction will soon be completed, and Skype, if I may say so, will come under the jurisdiction of Microsoft.

FT