Oracle's $7.4bn takeover of software rival Sun Microsystems looks set to go through after European regulators finally gave their approval to the deal.
Nine months after the surprise acquisition was announced, EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes has said she is satisfied that the deal holds no potential danger to the software market.
"I am now satisfied that competition and innovation will be preserved on all the markets concerned," she said in a statement.
"Oracle's acquisition of Sun has the potential to revitalise important assets and create new and innovative products."
The deal, first announced in April last year, will see the world's second largest software company take control of its smaller rival. In the process, Oracle will gain access to a suite of products including the Java programming language and business-oriented Solaris operating system.
The acquisition had come in for criticism from some campaigners, who felt that Oracle's power would threaten free competition – particularly in the database market.
Monty Widenius, who sold database company MySQL to Sun in 2008 for $1bn, was among the chief objectors - arguing that Oracle would kill off open source products like MySQL to protect its existing sales.
"I just don't buy it that Oracle will be a good home for MySQL," he said in December, adding that competition "not only scares, but actually hurts Oracle every day".
But after a series of hearings and reports of a rift between regulators on either side of the Atlantic, the takeover now has the seal of approval from Washington and Brussels. Although authorities in Russia and China still have to give it their blessing, executives appear confident that affairs will now be completed in short order.
In a memo to staff, Sun chief executive Jonathan Schwartz told his employees that they had to prepare for the change and praised Oracle's management.
"With nine months of getting to know them, I've found Oracle to be truly remarkable, led by remarkable people," he said. "I've seen their commitment and focus, now they need yours."
He added that staff should "let go" of any resistance they have to the deal, or attachment they have to Sun's particular values.
"Every employee needs to emotionally resign from Sun," he wrote. "Go home, light a candle, and let go of the expectations and assumptions that defined Sun as a workplace. Honour and remember them, but let them go."