Microsoft avoids EU antitrust investigation with €20m settlement – report (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has reached a €20 million (~$21.7 million) settlement with cloud industry association CISPE in Europe, saving the tech giant from a hefty fine and further EU investigation, Reuters reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Cloud Infrastructure Providers Europe (CISPE) accused Microsoft (MSFT) of using unfair licensing terms that restricted competition in the European cloud ecosystem.

Microsoft (MSFT) has agreed to compensate CISPE members for lost revenue over the past two years, the report said.

Microsoft (MSFT) will also introduce a new product that will allow CISPE members to run the U.S. tech giant’s Azure cloud infrastructure on their platforms at fair prices. The company has nine months to deliver the product.

“After more than a year of working with CISPE and its European members, I am pleased that we have not only addressed their concerns of the past, but together we have charted a path forward that will bring even more competition to the cloud computing market in Europe and beyond,” said Microsoft CEO Brad Smith.

However, the lobbying group’s largest members, Amazon (AMZN) Web Services, Google (GOOG) Cloud Platform and AliCloud (BABA), were not included in the settlement.

CISPE said it would no longer initiate or support complaints on these matters in Europe or elsewhere and that it was withdrawing its complaint to the EU.

“CISPE has given Microsoft the benefit of the doubt and believes that this agreement will ensure a level playing field for European cloud infrastructure service providers and their customers,” said Francisco Mingorance of CISPE.