By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) is set to secure unconditional EU antitrust approval for its $28 billion bid for cybersecurity firm Splunk (NASDAQ:SPLK), two people with direct knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.
The deal announced last year and Cisco's biggest ever will boost its software business amid a boom in artificial intelligence and also help offset a post-pandemic slowdown in demand.
The European Commission is set to clear the deal after its preliminary review ends on March 13 after finding no anti-competitive issues, the people said.
The EU competition enforcer declined to comment. Cisco and Splunk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Last month, San Francisco, California-based Splunk said it expects the deal to close towards the end of the current quarter or early in the second quarter of 2024.