By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Microsoft stock (NASDAQ:MSFT) traded 0.3% higher in Monday’s premarket after the U.K. antitrust regulator said it will look into its $16-billion purchase of artificial intelligence and speech technology firm Nuance Communications (NASDAQ:NUAN).
The Competition and Markets Authority said it will consider whether the deal would result in lesser competition in the local market. Interested parties have until January10 to comment on the deal.
The antitrust watchdog has been increasing its scrutiny of deals involving Big Tech. Earlier this month it blocked Meta Systems' deal to buy GIF site Giphy. However, regulators are also taking a tougher line on companies possessing sensitive technologies, particularly those involving concerns surrounding data privacy and national security.
Another deal undergoing close examination is the takeover of U.K’-based chip designing firm ARM by U.S.-based Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA).
On Friday, Reuters reported that the Microsoft-Nuance combination is set to secure unconditional EU antitrust approval before the Christmas holiday.
U.S. and Australia have already approved the deal.
Nuance claims to serve almost 80% of U.S. hospitals and is known for pioneering speech technology and helping launch Apple’s Siri.
It provides intelligent solutions including clinical speech recognition, medical transcription and medical imaging.