EU Regulators Expected to Decide on Apple's Acquisition of Beats By July 30

[The Barron]

They're not all covered.

Why are all of their wrists covered? Someone made a comment about this awhile back and I never saw a valid response

Look at "Dr." Dre's two wrists. iWatch free they are.

 

[adamw]

I am unsure about this acquisition of Beats. I hope they are not overpaying for it.

 

[rmatthewware]

Because one or both companies have operations within the EU and offer their services here as well. This is pretty much given with every major business merger/acquisition.

With that logic, any acquisition could be scrutinized by the 150+ countries in which Apple operates. Any acquisition or merger should only be subject to the laws of the country in which its headquarters is located.

 

[SmileyBlast!]

Why are the Europeans sticking their big noses into an American merger? This is bureaucracy gone far too far!

Because this deal is the biggest Mistake has done as a company since firing Steve Jobs. The EU must have a Ministry for the Prevention of Stupidity.

 

[sputnikv]

Steve's Apple is officially no more, looking at this picture with Tim next to Apple’s newest executive, who's been recorded multiple times advocating the murder of white people, domestic abuse, rape and objectification of women, illegal drug use, violence towards the gay community, and unwarranted, illegal gun violence.

We do miss you, Steve, badly.

that's quite a list of mostly fabricated things. sounds to me that you're just racist

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

Because it's a global company that also operates in the EU? My guess though is that nothing will come of this because there are several other digital music providers.

Because one or both companies have operations within the EU and offer their services here as well. This is pretty much given with every major business merger/acquisition.

Oh so should apple get regulatory approval from every country they operate in? That argument doesn't even make sense. Why should the EU have greater authority over mergers of foreign companies than any other entity?

Plus, I can't even begin to imagine how this could get denied.... They are in vastly different fields. The closest is iTunes to Beats Music, but Beats Music is tiny, tiny.

 

[Z400Racer37]

If a private company could somehow force every single human being on this planet to use their product, do you for one second think that they wouldn't?

How exactly might they go about forcing anyone to do anything? Put a gun to their heads and say "Buy my headphones?" I mean if they're gonna do that, then why even offer headphones? Oh wait, government already does that market cornered.

While a company's best interest might not be the polar opposite of a consumer's best interest, the two can never be aligned. Hence we have governments and trade organizations limiting what corporations can and can not do.

The two must always be aligned, otherwise the customer would not buy the product voluntarily. Would you buy something from someone who was abusing you? Unless a company provides value to their customers, there is no way a voluntary trade would take place, hence the virtue of capitalism. And if the government really has the "right" to interfere with how companies allocate their assets, do the assets really belong to the company?

Neither of these are private companies.

They're funded by private sector capital. Government still has no business bring involved.

 

[QuantumLo0p]

I thought S. R. Hadden was just a movie character.

 

[linuxcooldude]

I think the only part they may have concerns about is the subscription music service. iTunes is the leader in online music sales and they may feel this purchase is a way to leverage that monopoly to take over the streaming market unfairly.

We'll see I guess

I don't see it will really effecting anything. While they have a majority of declining download sales, streaming is more a service that has been well established way before Apple came along.

Its probably just a routine check.

 

[bpeeps]

Steve's Apple is officially no more, looking at this picture with Tim next to Apple’s newest executive, who's been recorded multiple times advocating the murder of white people, domestic abuse, rape and objectification of women, illegal drug use, violence towards the gay community, and unwarranted, illegal gun violence.

We do miss you, Steve, badly.

Why do you exist in life? Advocating the murder of white people... if there ever was such a precedent, you'd be a prime example.

 

[FieldingMellish]

Why do you exist in life? Advocating the murder of white people... if there ever was such a precedent, you'd be a prime example.

The true horror are those headphones with bass that cuts out the rest of the musical spectrum. I mean, it's possible to have great bass and not lose all the rest of the sound in a muddy mess.

 

[zipa]

With that logic, any acquisition could be scrutinized by the 150+ countries in which Apple operates. Any acquisition or merger should only be subject to the laws of the country in which its headquarters is located.

As it will be. Well, apart from US and EU, there aren't really any other major courts than China and India, and I'm absolutely certain that at least China will have a look at this.

I'm equally sure that there won't be any issues in any of the investigations, if you can call them that.

I don't get your logic, either. If you want to offer your products or services in a certain market, you obviously need to comply with the legislation of that market. Obviously EU can't do anything about the actual acquisition, so technically the actual business transaction isn't subject to anything else than US legislation.

 

[alexk403]

Is it just me or does it look like Tim Cook is covering something that's on his left wrist? Could be coincidence but on the other hand (literally) could be hiding iWatch prototype or something similar.

 

[zipa]

Oh so should apple get regulatory approval from every country they operate in? That argument doesn't even make sense. Why should the EU have greater authority over mergers of foreign companies than any other entity?

Plus, I can't even begin to imagine how this could get denied.... They are in vastly different fields. The closest is iTunes to Beats Music, but Beats Music is tiny, tiny.

Yes, they should, and no, it won't get denied.

 

[nozebleed]

they are all liberals. this will go through with flying colors.

had they been conservative or donated to conservative causes, there would be never ending court cases until one party gave in

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Why are all of their wrists covered? Someone made a comment about this awhile back and I never saw a valid response

Apple execs are going ghetto and hiding their newly acquired tattoos.

 

[cmwade77]

that's quite a list of mostly fabricated things. sounds to me that you're just racist

Really? How about this article that states it verbatim:
http://benswann.com/lotfi-apples-ne...-murder-of-women-a-radical-homophobic-racist/

Or this one:
https://www.mrconservative.com/2014...l-homophobic-racist-condones-murder-and-rape/

Or this one:
http://www.dailypaul.com/319862/lot...d-murder-of-women-a-radical-homophobic-racist

All of them include links and were found with a 2 second google search. So, no it's not made up and Apple should be ashamed of themselves for putting such a person in a executive role.

 

[zin]

Oh so should apple get regulatory approval from every country they operate in? That argument doesn't even make sense. Why should the EU have greater authority over mergers of foreign companies than any other entity?

Uh, yes. If a country requires approval then Apple will submit their application to the regulator. If a Government wants approval then there is no argument, Apple will be forced to get approval.

The EU doesn't have greater authority over mergers. It has delegated authority; EU member states found it more effective (and also more attractive to businesses) to have a centralised antitrust commission. Any member state can implement their own domestic embargos if their country's regulator disagrees with the commission, but it would only apply to that country and not any other member state.

The European Patent Office operates the same way. It is more efficient and attractive to businesses to centrally approve patents across all member states. Any domestic patent office can invalidate a patent but it would only apply to that country.

 

[cmwade77]

Why do you exist in life? Advocating the murder of white people... if there ever was such a precedent, you'd be a prime example.

I have already shown in my previous post where the statement was accurate. Seriously, it's not right no matter what races/gender/etc. might be involved.

 

[bpeeps]

The true horror are those headphones with bass that cuts out the rest of the musical spectrum. I mean, it's possible to have great bass and not lose all the rest of the sound in a muddy mess.

Yeah, I'm sure bad headphones are worse than racists propagating their hate. Nothing is compelling you to run out and grab a pair of these "muddy mess" headsets, so I'm not sure why you care. I don't. Derail elsewhere.

I have already shown in my previous post where the statement was accurate. Seriously, it's not right no matter what races/gender/etc. might be involved.

I don't have the time of day to view the posting history of a racist. The comment I read in this post was, end of story.

 

[DoubleU]

Why are all of their wrists covered? Someone made a comment about this awhile back and I never saw a valid response

Because Paul McCartney's dead.

 

[chiefsilverback]

Why are the Europeans sticking their big noses into an American merger? This is bureaucracy gone far too far!

I recall seeing an article that suggested this transaction might actually take place in Ireland where both Apple and Beats have significant portions of their business.

This also partly explained the $3B price tag because it's using that un-taxed money Apple have sloshing around. If Dre and Iovine want to bring that money to the US then they'll have to pay 35% of it to Uncle Sam hence the purchase price is really $2B in usable money.

Might not be true but it's probably more reliable than an analysts predictions for an Apple TV set.

 

[unplugme71]

Oh so should apple get regulatory approval from every country they operate in? That argument doesn't even make sense. Why should the EU have greater authority over mergers of foreign companies than any other entity?

Plus, I can't even begin to imagine how this could get denied.... They are in vastly different fields. The closest is iTunes to Beats Music, but Beats Music is tiny, tiny.

It's not that the EU can prevent Apple from buying another company, because Apple still can, however, the EU can either prevent Apple from doing business in the EU or pay fines to continue to do business.

EU can't control what happens outside of the EU. I think people mistake this and the article may not explain or clarify it.

 

[Atlantico]

Buying Beats is so stupid that it defies belief. Apple under Cook is worse than Apple under Steve.

For 3 000 000 000 dollars Apple can make their own brand of headphones or music service or whatever twice over.

I sold my AAPL when Steve died, I am not sorry seeing where this is heading.

Down.

 

[Reason077]

I sold my AAPL when Steve died, I am not sorry seeing where this is heading.

Down.

Bad move.

Apple stock is up over 50% since Steve passed away.