Press Release: Mergers: Commission clears Intel’s proposed acquisition of McAfee subject to conditions

The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of McAfee, a vendor of information technology security, by Intel, both of the US. The approval is conditional upon a set of commitments ensuring fair competition between the parties and their competitors in the field of computer security, a growing concern due to the exponential rise in the number of malware such as viruses. The Commission was concerned that rival IT security products could be excluded from the marketplace given Intel's strong presence in the world markets for computer chips and chipsets. In particular, the Commission worried about the high likelihood that the merged entity would embed its own security solutions into its chips and chipsets. To alleviate those concerns, Intel committed to ensuring the interoperability of the merged entity's products with those of competitors. While the case raised technically complex issues, a conditional clearance decision could be achieved at the end of the preliminary first phase investigation thanks to the good cooperation of Intel.