in brief Hewlett Packard's proposed acquisition of Texan IT services giant Electronic Data Systems has won approval from the European Commission.
In May, HP announced it would buy EDS for US$25 per share, or US$13.9 billion. Under the deal, EDS will operate as a new business unit (called EDS) and will continue to be led by Ronald A. Rittenmeyer, its current chief executive officer. The EDS buy would pit HP squarely against IBM and make it second only to Big Blue in the realm of outsourced computer services.
But the enormity of the merged companies and culture differences between the two groups would make the acquisition challenging, Gartner analyst Ben Pring said at the time it was announced.
The deal won approval from US antitrust authorities on June 30.
