EU regulators may stall Intel's McAfee acquisition

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

European Union antitrust regulators have expressed concerns about Intel's plan to acquire security software-maker McAfee, which could result in a lengthy examination and potentially delay the deal, according to a recent report.

EU officials are reportedly concerned with the plan to embed McAfee security features directly onto Intel's chip architecture, which would make it difficult for other security vendors to compete, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The antitrust regulators expressed the concerns in private and have already requested opinions from competing security vendors, the Journal stated, citing unidentified sources who are aware of the situation.

In a recent statement on its website, Intel made no mention of the EU's concerns, but predicted the deal would be closed in the first half of 2011.

"We believe that the combination of Intel and McAfee will prove important in achieving breakthrough innovations in security and look forward to discussing in more detail our product plans and strategies after the transaction is closed," Intel vice president of investor relations Kevin Sellers stated.

As the world's largest chip-maker, Intel accounted for 80.1 percent of the global microprocessor market in the third quarter of 2010, according to a report from iSuppli.