Dec 13 Reuters -- Britain's antitrust regulators said on Monday it would look into Microsoft Corp's $16 billion acquisition of speech technology firm Nuance Communications Inc.
The Competition and Markets Authority CMA, which has been stepping up its regulation of Big Tech, said it was considering if the deal would result in less competition in the UK market.
Microsoft announced in April that it would buy Nuance to boost its presence in cloud services for healthcare. The deal has already received regulatory approval in the United States and Australia, without any remedies given.
The deal, which Microsoft has bought LinkedIn in 2016, was set to receive EU antitrust approval last week, according to a report last week.
The sources said Microsoft had been in preliminary talks with the CMA ahead of a formal request for approval of the Nuance deal.
Microsoft and Nuance didn't respond immediately to Reuters' requests for comment.
Interested parties have until January 10 to make a decision on the deal, the CMA said.