Apple officially announced its acquisition of the music recognition and tagging company, Shazam, last December. While this deal may not sound like one to experience antitrust hurdles, the EU is launching a probe to review the acquisition’s effect on competition.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple registered the deal with regulators in Austria as it worked on acquiring the British software company. Now, however, Austria, France, Italy, Sweden, and other countries have asked Brussels to take over the probe to investigate potential harm to competition.
While this acquisition may not sound like the type that would attract antitrust concerns, the EU has been looking more closely at deals not based on just revenue and market share, but also those involving data-rich companies.
Source: 9to5mac