EU probes Google buy
European Union antitrust regulators launched an in-depth probe Tuesday into Google’s $3.1 billion bid for online ad broker DoubleClick, saying an initial investigation showed that the deal would raise competition concerns. The EU Commission set an April 2 deadline to reach a final decision on the deal, objected to by Google rivals Microsoft and Yahoo — both of which fear it will give the Internet search leader too much power in online advertising. Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the company was “obviously disappointed” by the EU decision to extend the review. U.S. antitrust officials also are looking into the deal.
Allen makes DWA sale
DreamWorks Animation said Tuesday that Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has sold about 2.4 million shares of DreamWorks’ common stock for about $75 million. Allen’s entity DW Investment II sold the stock for $31.06 per share, according to a regulatory filing. With the latest sale, Allen has cut his stake in the animated filmmaker below 5 million shares. In August, he reduced his stake from 21 million shares to nearly 7 million shares and resigned from the company’s board.
