The European Union has approved the purchase of Beats by Apple for $ 3 billion

Regulators report that this takeover will not entail restrictions on free competition, since the combined market share of companies will remain low.

From left to right: Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine, Apple CEO Tim Cook, co-founder Beats Dr. Dre, Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue.

Apple and Beats are one step closer to completing the deal, after which the headphones and Beats music service will become part of the tech giant.

On Monday [the original article was published on July 28, 14 - approx. translator ] The European Commission announced that it had approved Apple ’s plans to purchase Beats Electronics for $ 3 billion. The Commission checks such transactions and monitors the preservation of competition in the market on behalf of the European Union. According to her, the takeover will not entail "no restrictions on the freedom of competition, since the joint share of companies in the audio market will remain low."
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Apple announced its intention to buy Beats back in May. The purchase will occur in several stages: $ 2.6 billion will be paid immediately, and 400 million will be transferred over time. The company Beats was founded by the famous rapper Dr. Dre and music producer Jimmy Iovine (Jimmy Iovine), and his wide fame thanks to the headphones , which became iconic for pop culture. In addition, the company launched a music service with a subscription, which caught the attention of Apple CEO Tim Cook.

In an interview for the Wall Street Journal, Cook once confessed: "We really like the subscription service created by the Beats."

Apple said it hopes to complete the deal by the end of its fiscal year in September. As with any major merger, Apple must first send a request and receive confirmation from global regulatory agencies. The European Commission, as a rule, makes decisions relatively quickly. Apple is still awaiting a response from US regulators.

To reinforce its merger clearance, the European Commission stressed that Apple and Beats will face several competitors in the headphone market, including companies such as Bose and Sony.

The regulators also studied the Beats music service and again did not express any concerns about the streaming music market. According to their statement, there are no special concerns, since Beats Music is not available for use in the territory of the European Union. They also added that Apple will not be able to monopolize the market, because in the niche of streaming music, the Beats Music service takes up only a small share.

According to the agency: “the commission concluded that the merger will not affect Apple’s opportunities and incentives to deprive competing streaming music services of access to iOS, the company’s mobile operating system. In particular, this conclusion was made on the basis of the fact that before the purchase of Beats, Apple had already been active in the field of digital music distribution. Consequently, a takeover should not change a company's ability or incentive to block access to its mobile operating system. ”