The European Commission confirmed in a press release that it has decided to allow Apple to acquire Beats, the headphone maker the company intends to purchase for $3 billion.
The Apple-Beats deal cleared under the EU Merger Regulation legislation. The goal of the EU's merger policies is to analyze deals in order to "prevent harmful effects on competition."
Though both Beats and Apple sell headphones in Europe, their market share is low and the two are not close competitors, according to the release. The EU added that headphones from Apple and Beats "differ markedly in functionality and design."
It also confirmed that other major headphone companies, like Sony, Bose, and Sennheiser, would remain in the marketplace after the deal closes.
Apple's deal isn't just about headphones however. The iPhone maker has also acquired the streaming music service Beats Music.
The service has yet to be launched in Europe, which the commission oversees.
Though Apple already has iTunes and iTunes Radio, neither are directly similar to Beats Music, according to the release.
"The Commission concluded that Apple faces several competitors in the (European Economic Area) such as Spotify and Deezer, making it implausible that the acquisition of a smaller streaming service that is not active in the EEA would lead to anticompetitive effects," the commission said. "The Commission also concluded that the transaction would not give Apple the ability and incentive to shut out competing streaming services from access to iOS, Apple's operating system for mobile devices."
The Apple-Beats deal is still pending U.S. regulatory approval, but it is not expected to receive much resistance.
As part of the agreement, the iPhone maker will keep the Beats Music app available for other platforms, like Windows Phone and Android.
Apple announced the Beats deal back in May. It expects to close the deal during its fiscal fourth quarter.
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