The European Commission has approved HP's proposed £7bn acquisition of IT services giant EDS.
The deal will help HP establish a services arm to rival IBM's Global Services division – and the presence of such formidable competitors helped EC competition regulators to conclude that the acquisition should be allowed to proceed.
“In the IT services sector there are a large number of global and regional competitors capable of exercising competitive constraints on the merged company,” the EC said in a statement.
HP first reached an agreement to acquire EDS for £6.98 billion in May this year. EDS's shareholders will vote on the proposed deal on 31 July.
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