Report: Microsoft deal for Skype expected to be approved

Despite concerns that an Italian company's filing might block--or at least hold up--the European Union's approval of Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) $8.5 billion acquisition of VoIP provider Skype, it now appears the regulators will give it the green light.

For years, Microsoft has butted heads with the EU over anti-trust concerns, bundling and licensing deals.

The Financial Times is reporting that the deal will be allowed to go through without requiring a second round of investigation. That phase could have delayed the deal well into 2012.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved the acquisition in June. Regulators in Russia, the Ukraine, Serbia and Taiwan, also now are expected to approve the deal, following the lead of the U.S. and the European Union.

Last month, an Italian VoIP provider that competes with Skype, Messagenet, filed a complaint asking that Skype be unbundled from Windows, saying again that the inclusion of the technology in its Windows OS would be unfair. It also asked regulators to open up Skype's 124 million-strong Internet phone network to competitors' services by having Microsoft publish the Skype's computer coding to allow services to interconnect.

Messagenet contends that the merger will likely make the software even more interoperable than it is today.

The Financial Times said EU competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia would OK the deal without remedy.

Microsoft has promised to keep Skype available on rival software platforms.

For more:
- see the FT story

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