Salesforce urges EU to take close Microsoft's LinkedIn acquisition

Clash of the clouds? According to the New York Times, Salesforce is raising potential problems for Microsoft in Europe, questioning whether its acquisition of LinkedIn would give it too much exclusive control of too much data.

The company raised the concerns in a survey response to the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, which handles antitrust issues.

As the Times reports:

Europe has been particularly wary of how American companies stockpile user data, and while Microsoft has had smooth sailing so far in the regulatory process, with clearance for the deal given by United States and Canada, it will need the EU approval soon if it hopes to close the deal by the end of year, as initially planned.

That said, one rival's complaints isn't much of a data point to go on, but the it does underlying the increasingly aggressively clashes between two companies that often partnered on core services. Earlier this month, Business Insider reported on the growing ambition of Benioff, who drove through the purchase of productivity software Quip in part to better position Salesforce to take on the office environment.

From a call with investors:

We'll be reporting live on those ambitions directly next week from Dreamforce, so stay tuned.