The European Commission antitrust regulators will decide by April 23 whether to approve Apple’s acquisition of Shazam. The tech giant filed for approval Wednesday.
Seven European countries had previously asked the European Commission to oversee the case. It’s responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the European Union.
In December 2017 it was reported that Apple was acquiring Shazam, the popular music recognition app that’s used by more than 100 million people each month to identify music, get song lyrics, and more. The price of the acquisition hasn’t confirmed. However, it’s rumored that the deal is for $400 million. Apple’s proposed acquisition of Shazam doesn’t meet the turnover thresholds set by the EU Merger Regulation for mergers that must be notified to the European Commission because they have an EU dimension, the organization says.
The Commission will look into whether the transaction may threaten to adversely affect competition in the European Economic Area (EEA). The EEA is the area in which the Agreement on the EEA provides for the free movement of persons, goods, services and capital within the European Single Market, including the freedom to choose residence in any country within this area.
The EEA was established on Jan. 1, 1994. The European Single Market is a single market which seeks to guarantee the free movement of goods, capital, services, and labor – the “four freedoms” – within the European Union, the political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe
