Europe clears Oracle-Siebel acquisition

Oracle's acquisition of PeopleSoft will 'not significantly impede effective competition'

The European Commission has approved Oracle's $5.8bn acquisition of Siebel Systems.

"After examining the operation carefully, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area or any substantial part of it and has therefore approved the concentration," the Commission wrote in a statement.

The approval clears all government hurdles for the acquisition that was announced on 12 September.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) requested additional information in October, but approved the acquisition on 15 November.

An Oracle spokesman said that the vendor is pleased with the decision, and that the deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2006.

The swift approval stands in stark contrast to Oracle's $10.3bn takeover of PeopleSoft during which the DoJ unsuccessfully tried to block the transaction over alleged anti-trust issues.

The European Commission repeatedly requested additional information on the takeover, but in the end approved the deal.