Microsoft Skype buyout approved in Europe

 

 

We all know technology industries keeps on battling with different kinds of lawsuits from patent rights to mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers. Skype had long been a topic of discussion ever since Microsoft had planned of taking it over. The deal has finally been closed as European Commission has approved the buyout. The major advocacy behind the lawsuit was the threat to the competition in the VoIP industry that was being posed by buying of Skype. However the European Commission saw things in a different perspective stating that the Microsoft Skype deal “would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area”. European Commission was of the view that there was a lot much common between the services offered by Skype and Microsoft’s Live Messenger which already enjoyed a strong position among the service users. It further added that there were many big organizations like Google also functioning in the market which meant no risk posed by Microsoft Skype deal to the level or intensity of competition.

The commission also made a clear statement regarding the enterprise communications product Lync, “For enterprise communications, the investigation confirmed that Skype has a limited market presence for these products and does not compete directly with Microsoft’s enterprise communication product Lync, which is used mostly by large enterprises.”

Microsoft has already fought a legal battle at home as well, where it finally overcome the lawsuit in June earlier this year. Microsoft’s general counsel and EVP expressed his gratification over the decision saying, “We’re pleased that the European Commission has approved Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype. This is an important milestone, as we’ve now received clearance from both the United States and the European Union. We look forward to completing soon the final steps needed to close the acquisition, bringing together the employees of Microsoft and Skype, and creating new opportunities for people to communicate and collaborate around the world.”

This may be the perspective of Microsoft over the issue but VoIP industry experts had a mixed perspective on the day’s proceedings. Some said that this decision would help ease pressure on the VoIP industry due to low calling rates offered by Google Voice. However others said that this decision has put all the small VoIP service providers at great financial risk by making them a lot less competitive. They were of the view that with players like Google and Microsoft entering the VoIP industry, things would become difficult for other internet phone service providers over a period of time.