Apple announced plans to acquire music-recognition firm Shazam in December 2017, but European regulators may yet throw a spoke in the works of the deal.
“The European Commission has accepted a request from Austria, France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden to assess under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Shazam by Apple,” announced the EC yesterday.
“The Commission considers the transaction may threaten to adversely affect competition in the EEA.” The EEA being the European Economic Area – the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway, if you’re wondering.
Shazam’s turnover isn’t big enough to trigger an automatic review by the Commission, but the transaction did require regulatory clearance in Austria, which in turn was able to refer it upwards – now with the support of the six other countries – to the Commission.
“Without prejudice to the outcome of its full investigation, the Commission considers that the transaction may have a significant adverse effect on competition in the European Economic Area,” explained the announcement. “The Commission will now ask Apple to notify the transaction.”
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