Exclusive-EU break-up order to Google unlikely for now, sources say

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU antitrust officials are considering an order to Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) unit Google to stop its anti-competitive practices in its adtech business but will not issue a breakup order as they had originally warned, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

A break-up order could come at a later stage if Google continues its anti-competitive practices, they said, pointing to a precedent setting case involving Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) two decades ago. They said the European Commission’s decision could evolve.

An EU decision however is unlikely to come before EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager leaves office in November because of the complexity of the case although it is still a theoretical possibility, they said.