Senators press European regulators to speed up probe of Sun’s $7.4 billion takeover by Oracle

Senators press EU to speed its Oracle-Sun probe

SAN FRANCISCO — A group of U.S. senators is pressuring European antitrust regulators to hurry their investigation of Oracle Corp.’s proposed acquisition of Sun Microsystems Inc.

The 59 senators are citing Sun’s “precarious” financial condition and fears about more layoffs at the struggling computing company.

The senators outlined their concerns in a letter Tuesday to the European Commission, which has held up the $7.4 billion deal over worries that Oracle would be too dominant in the market for database software. The deal was already cleared in August by the U.S. Department of Justice. This month, though, the European Commission notified the Silicon Valley companies of its formal objections.