It is thought that Hewlett Packard's $24 billion takeover of Compaq Computer looks set to be cleared by the European anti-trust regulators provided there are no last minute objections from the European Commission. Although it is another positive signal, the EC could still decide to impose the four month inquiry into the potential impact of the merger.
The Commission's competition experts are said to have concluded that the deal would not pose serious antitrust problems despite the enlarged group's high share of some European IT markets.
31-Jan-2002
