AAPL Apple Inc

By Natalia Drozdiak 

BRUSSELS -- European Union antitrust authorities on Monday opened a full-blown probe into Apple Inc.'s proposed acquisition of the popular song-recognition app Shazam Entertainment Ltd. on concerns the deal could reduce choice for users of music-streaming services.

The proposed acquisition, which the EU has the power to block to seek concessions, would give Apple ownership of an app that helps users identify songs before directing them to Apple Music or Spotify AB to listen to and potentially buy or stream them. The proposed deal also would give Apple access to extensive data and insight on people's musical interests. Financial terms of the deal, announced in December, weren't disclosed.

The European Commission, the bloc's antitrust authority, on Monday said it was concerned the deal could give Apple access to data that would allow the iPhone maker to directly target its rivals' customers and encourage them to switch to its music-subscription service Apple Music.

EU investigators said they would also probe whether competitors could be harmed if Apple were to discontinue referrals to their services from the Shazam app.

Neither Apple nor Shazam responded immediately to requests for comment.

The EU said it was giving itself until Sept. 4 to decide on the deal, though the deadline could still be extended.

The EU's move comes as data and users' information plays an increasingly important role in the bloc's antitrust and merger reviews, with regulators scrutinizing whether a company holding large amounts of data can exclude new competitors from markets if they control exclusive information that can serve to win customers or cut costs.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 23, 2018 11:58 ET (15:58 GMT)

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