Hewlett-Packard's purchase of EDS gets EU approval

BRUSSELS, July 25 (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) won permission from European Union competition regulators on Friday to buy technology outsourcing company Electronic Data Systems Corp EDS.N Corp for $12.6 billion.

The deal is aimed at helping HP compete better against IBM (IBM.N) in the global technology services industry, and vaults HP to second place behind IBM. EDS is a pioneer of the outsourcing of managed computer services.

"The Commission concluded that the concentration is unlikely to raise competition concerns," said a statement from the European Commission, the EU's executive arm.

The deal won approval from U.S. government antitrust authorities on June 30. (Writing by David Lawsky, editing by Darren Ennis)