European competition regulators said Tuesday they have stopped the clock in their in-depth investigation into IBM's planned $745 million takeover of Swedish software maker Telelogic. The European Commission, Europe's top competition authority, has <A HREF="http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/11/27/EU-wants-more-info-on-IBM-Telelogic-buy_1.html?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/11/27/EU-wants-more-info-on-IBM-Telelogic-buy_1.html">asked the companies for more information</A> about the deal in order to assess whether it breaks European Union competition rules.

The Commission was due to conclude its investigation by a Feb. 20 deadline. A later date will be set once all the required information has been submitted, a Commission official said, asking not to be named. The Commission opened a probe of the deal after reaching the preliminary conclusion that the acquisition would cause competition problems. The companies compete head-on in the areas of software modelling and building development tools.