EU regulators to decide on IBM's $34 billion Red Hat bid by June 27

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators will decide by June 27 whether to clear U.S. tech giant International Business Machines Corp's $34 billion bid for software company Red Hat. The deal, IBM's biggest, will help the company expand into subscription-based software offerings. IBM said on Tuesday it had sought EU approval the previous day. The European Commission confirmed the request. Founded in 1993, Red Hat specializes in Linux operating systems, the most popular type of open-source software, an alternative to proprietary software made by Microsoft Corp. The EU competition enforcer can either clear the deal with or without conditions or it can open a full-scale investigation. U.S. regulatory authorities approved the deal without demanding concessions earlier this month. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by David Evans)