REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Oracle pledged to continue investing in Sun Microsystems’ competing database software after its planned $7.4 billion purchase of the computer maker was threatened by European Union antitrust regulators.
The European Commission said Oracle’s proposal addresses concerns about the acquisition of Sun’s MySQL database product, signaling the EU will approve the acquisition next month. European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement she’s “optimistic that the case will have a satisfactory outcome.”
The offer, in the form of a pledge to customers and developers, followed a two-day hearing in Brussels late last week. Oracle held talks with commission officials Friday, according to a person close to the negotiations.
Oracle hasn’t made any “onerous concessions” by promising to invest in MySQL, said Zaineb Bokhari, an analyst at Standard & Poor’s in New York.
“It is an assurance,” Bokhari said. “That may have been what the EU regulators wanted to hear. The stage seems set for the deal to be approved.”
The commission had threatened to block the deal because of concerns that Oracle might be able to eliminate MySQL as a competitor. Oracle, the world’s second-largest software maker, said in a statement Monday it will boost investment in MySQL and is committed to keeping MySQL’s open- source licensing platform.
Gaye Hudson, an Oracle spokeswoman in the U.K., couldn’t be reached to comment. Jonathan Todd, an EU spokesman, said Oracle hadn’t formally presented the proposal to the commission.
