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The European Commission (EC) greenlights Microsoft’s acquisition of Nuance. Thereby, it refutes the possibility of a harmful impact on market competition in the European Union.

In April of this year, Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Nuance. Recently, it became clear that the European Commission initiated an intensive investigation into the influence of the acquisition on Nuance’s customers and Microsoft’s competitors. The investigation has now been completed, concluding that the acquisition may proceed as planned.

Investigation into overlapping activities

According to the EC, its investigation mainly concerned the overlap between Microsoft’s and Nuance’s speech technology activities. It was found that both companies supplied different products. Combining these products would allow sufficient competition from alternative suppliers.

Competition authorities in the United States and Australia have also greenlit the acquisition.

Nuance

Microsoft’s acquisition of Nuance involves an amount of over 14 billion euros (16 billion dollars). AI and transcription technology for healthcare and call centers are central to Nuance’s business. Microsoft is interested in the technology to grow its capacity in the field of AI.