The European Commission finally gave the approval to Hewlett-Packard Co., the US computer giant, for the acquisition of the networking switching and routing manufacturer 3Com. The deal was cleared without any concessions required from the companies. In an official announcement the European Commission said that it would not harm competition in Europe.
“The commission concluded that the concentration would be unlikely to raise competition concerns,” the EU competition regulators said in a statement.
By the acquisition of 3Com Corp, Hewlett-Packard Co, the American technology major, will manage to reinforce its presence in the network equipment sector. Hewlett-Packard announced in November that it had agreed to buy 3Com for 2.7 billion dollars. The world’s largest computer maker took this step in the hope that it would help them further expand in the growing Chinese market. The acquisition of 3Com will also help the company to expand its product portfolio, increase sales in the rapidly growing Chinese market and better compete with rival Cisco Systems Inc.
HP, the world’s biggest technology company by sales, expects the deal to close early in the second quarter of this fiscal. The company has acquired more than 30 companies since 2005.