Microsoft's acquisition of Nuance Communications was approved by the European Commission on Tuesday, according to Reuters. The $19.7 billion acquisition will be one of the largest ever for Microsoft, eclipsed only by its $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn.
The acquisition, which was announced in April, had already been approved in the U.S. and Australia, according to Reuters. Nuance provides AI-based communications services for health care providers, which sit on Microsoft Azure.
Microsoft's move is part of the company's strategy to expand in the health care space. Longtime rival Oracle is looking at similar territory, agreeing to a $28 billion deal for health care records provider Cerner just this week.