Microsoft Avoids EU Antitrust Fine with Teams Deal

After a two-year investigation, Microsoft has successfully averted the European Union’s antitrust sanctions over the bundling of its collaboration platform, Microsoft Teams, with its productivity suites. The European Commission announced that it has accepted Microsoft’s commitments, which include decoupling Teams from Office 365 and Microsoft 365 for standalone sales, while simultaneously widening the price gap between bundles with and without Teams to ensure fair market competition.

The case traces back to a 2020 complaint filed by Slack, which accused Microsoft of unfairly tying Teams to Office, thereby limiting rivals’ opportunities to compete and expand their market share. In 2023, the EU launched a formal investigation, and by early 2024 preliminarily concluded that Microsoft had indeed secured an undue distribution advantage, further restricting interoperability between its services and competing products. A guilty verdict could have exposed Microsoft to fines of up to 10% of its global revenue.

To mitigate this risk, Microsoft had already begun offering Office versions without Teams in the EU prior to the final ruling. However, regulators considered those measures insufficient and demanded deeper structural changes.

Ultimately, Microsoft pledged to increase the price differential between Teams and non-Teams versions by an additional 50%, and to cease providing extra discounts for Teams or any bundled suite containing it. Furthermore, the company agreed to deliver full interoperability support, allowing competitors to embed Office applications into their own products, while granting customers the ability to extract Teams data and migrate it seamlessly to alternative services.

According to the EU’s statement, Microsoft’s commitments will remain in effect for seven years, while provisions relating to interoperability and data portability will extend for ten years, with compliance monitored regularly by an independent trustee.

Related Posts:

• EU fines Google for $5 billion on Android monopoly
• Google Under Fire Again: EU Prepares Antitrust Lawsuit Over Search Practices
• Google faces a record EU fine
• Apple Fights DOJ Antitrust Lawsuit: Alleges “Misleading” Claims Threaten iPhone’s Security & Innovation