The U.K.’s antitrust regulatory body has opened an investigation into Microsoft’s acquisition of artificial intelligence software developer Nuance Communications.
The $19.7 billion deal, which would see the tech giant scoop up Nuance’s speech technology and cloud capabilities for healthcare, seems to have raised concerns about monopolizing the market.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will consider whether the deal “may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition” in U.K. markets, according to the case description.
In the U.S., Nuance’s technology is used in 77% of hospitals, according to the company. It’s most known for developing Apple’s voice assistant Siri, but the company has worked with Microsoft for the past two years on software that lets doctors record patient visits and integrate the information into electronic health records.
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The investigation itself doesn’t have a deadline, but the CMA will invite public comments until Jan. 10, 2022.
If the probe proceeds, it could take months. Nuance already announced the deal was expected to close later than initially thought, with the transaction now anticipated between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.
The case comes on the heels of last week’s news of an EU antitrust probe into Microsoft’s acquisition of Nuance.
The European Commission’s antitrust body questioned the company’s clients and competitors about the transaction and potential concerns last month, Reuters reported.
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The EU’s antitrust regulator has until Dec. 21 to officially widen the probe or to sign off on the deal.
However, sources told Reuters Thursday that the watchdog is poised to give unconditional antitrust approval to the deal. Neither Microsoft nor the European Commission chose to comment on the claims.
The U.S. Department of Justice effectively signed off on the acquisition after its deadline to object expired in June. The Australian Competition Commission OK’d the acquisition in October.
The deal is Microsoft’s second-largest acquisition of all time, after its 2016 purchase of LinkedIn for $26.2 billion.