European Commission objects to Sun-Oracle deal

By Ritsuko Ando and Diane Bartz

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The European Commission has objected to Oracle Corp's acquisition of computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc, throwing the $7 billion deal into question.

The commission said in a preliminary assessment that combining Sun's MySQL database product and Oracle's products could hurt competition in the database market, Sun said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Oracle said it "plans to vigorously oppose the Commission's Statement of Objections". The Commission faces a January 19 deadline on whether to approve the deal.

Earlier this year, Sun struck a deal to sell itself to Oracle after several years of failed attempts to turn itself around. The deal was seen as a way to transform Sun into a diversified technology company, selling computers alongside Oracle's software.

European Union regulators said last month that Oracle has not presented evidence to placate antitrust concerns.

The Commission's prime concern appears to be Sun's MySQL database, which it bought for $1 billion last year and which is used to run popular websites including Google, Facebook and Amazon.

Oracle's database -- the top-selling product in the market -- is far more robust, allowing companies to quickly access larger quantities of data. Critics of the deal worry Oracle's ownership may hinder MySQL's development.

The U.S. Department of Justice, which gave the deal its approval in August, issued a statement on Monday saying it believed customers will still have a variety of choices after the companies merge.