Microsoft gets clearance from U.K. over Nuance acquisition, paving way for merger
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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has received clearance from the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority over its Nuance Communications (NASDAQ:NUAN) deal, marking the last approval the Redmond, Washington-based tech giant needed.
In the approval, the CMA said that the deal did not "give rise to a realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition in any market in the UK."
The merger inquiry from the CMA was initiated on January 12 to determine whether it hampered competition in the U.K.
Microsoft shares were higher in premarket, gaining slightly more than 0.5% to $296.73, while Nuance rose to $55.97.
Microsoft (MSFT) received U.S. antitrust approval for its planned purchase of Nuance Communications (NUAN) in June 2021, while it was granted approval by the European Commission for the deal in December.
Nuance, which helped build Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) Siri virtual assistant, will allow the Redmond, Washington-based tech giant to expand into cloud services for healthcare. The Nuance (NUAN) deal is Microsoft's (MSFT) second largest, following its $26.2 billion deal for LinkedIn.
In April 2021, Microsoft agreed to purchase Nuance Communications in a deal valued at $19.7 billion.
Last month, Bank of America picked Microsoft (MSFT) as a stock that could benefit from scarcity themes, as the company is slated to benefit from its potential merger with Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), which would add approximately $9 billion of gaming revenue.