Oracle's plans to buy Sun Microsystemsare likely to be referred to theEuropean Union anti-trust authorities,
it has emerged.
The disclosure has taken many industry watchers by surprise.
Oracle hails from a software background and Sun has a pedigree in
the server space,
But the merger has already failed to get through the 30-day
review process with US authorities because of some issues around
Java licensing which should be resolved in the next few weeks.
According to Reuters, the EU is to scrutinise the deal later
this month with Java licensing on the agenda again. Oracle CEO
Larry Ellison has previously commented on adapting licensing for
smartphones.
Oracle announced a $7.4bn deal to buy Sun in April and has said
that it aims to have the acquisition process complete by the end of
August.
The EU has 25 days to review the acquisition.
A version of this story originally appeared on
MicroScope.