Update: Since this article was first published, SAP provided its perspective on the merger discussions. See the final paragraphs for this update.
The European Commission on Competition issued a formal objection to Oracle’s Sun Microsystems acquisition on Monday, according to Oracle, reiterating its worries about the fate of Sun’s open source MySQL database product.
The commission would not confirm the action today, saying that it “never comments on whether or not it has issued a Statement of Objections in a merger case.“ Without addressing the Oracle case specifically, commission spokesman Jonathan Todd explained in a press briefing that “sending a Statement of Objections is how we outline our precise concerns on why a company may be breaching the rules on merger control or antitrust.“
The commission still has until Jan. 19, 2010, to issue a final decision on “whether the [merger] would significantly impede effective competition within the European Economic Area (EEA) or a substantial part of it.”