EU investigation into Microsoft likely after remedies fall short

European Union antitrust regulators are likely to open a formal investigation into Microsoft after remedy discussions with the company to avert such a move appear to have hit a roadblock, people familiar with the matter said.

Microsoft has offered to cut the price of its Office product without its Teams app following a complaint by Salesforce-owned workspace messaging app Slack in 2020 that it had allegedly unfairly integrated workplace chat and video app Teams into its Office product.

The European Commission has been seeking a deeper price cut than that offered by the U.S. software giant, the people said.