Intel purchase of McAfee gets approval by EU regulators

It's hard to keep up with all the goings on in the tech world. The proposed purchase of security firm McAfee by Intel first surfaced back in the summer of 2010. The deal didn't get the nod in the US until December. While the US was eyeing the purchase, the EU was as well.



Intel has now received the approval it needs in the EU to complete the purchase. The deal will cost Intel $7.68 billion and will let the chipmaker integrate its processors much more tightly with security software. Before the EU would approve the deal, Intel had to put some commitments in writing.

The commitments included an agreement to allow other security software makers access to the same hardware McAfee has access to, and to allow other hardware makers to be supported by McAfee. Specifically AMD is to have access. The deal is expected to complete this quarter.

"The commitments submitted by Intel strike the right balance, as they allow preserving both competition and the beneficial effects of the merger," Joaquin Almunia, commission VP in charge of competition policy, said in a statement. "These changes will ensure that vigorous competition is maintained and that consumers get the best result in terms of price, choice, and quality of the IT security products."