Intel Acquisition of McAfee Not Seen in a Favorable Light by the EU

Those users keeping track of such things will know that the European Commission and Intel do not have a very pleasant history, and the former seems to again be suspicious of the latter's activities.

Ever since the European Commission fined Intel $1.45 billion for antitrust charges, it seems to have kept close watch on it.

Of course, Intel was not overly perturbed, or didn't show it, being the very financially-backed company that it is.

As such, the Santa Clara, California, USA-based chip giant went about its business and even made a few acquisitions along the way.

One of the more massive deals it signed this year was the one with McAfee, for an acquisition, as odd as it may sound.

As per the agreement's terms, Intel agreed to pay $7.68 billion in exchange for full ownership of the firm, known for being one of the world's greatest maker of security software.

Now, The Wall Street Journal reports that the EU is not particularly pleased with the deal, at least it wasn't when it made the preliminary assessment.

Wary of antitrust practices on Intel's part, the experts with the EU have begun to ask rival companies what they feel about the buyout.

Apparently, they are concerned that Intel might decide to allows only McAfee products access to some of their chips' features.

This would give said software a definite advantage, since they would be running more efficiently than all other antivirus applications.

So far, the EU has not done an extended review of the agreement between the two companies and has until the 12 of January to decide on whether it will perform one or just issue a judgment.

All in all, it appears that the authorities in Europe have grown to mistrust Intel to a visible degree and will probably keep a close eye on its activities for quite a while.