The European Union has approved the $34 billion IBM-Red Hat merger, according to the news reports.
The approval was granted Thursday without conditions.
EU endorsement had been expected.
“The European Commission said in a statement that it had concluded the transaction would raise no competition concerns,” Reuters said.
“The European Commission has approved unconditionally … the proposed acquisition of Red Hat by IBM, both information technology companies based in the US,” a statement from the EU explained, according to France24.
“The Commission concluded that the transaction would raise no competition concerns,”
IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) announced the deal last October.
The deal received US regulatory approval in May and recently from Brazil.
Both companies have said they expect the deal to close in the second half of this year.
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