BRUSSELS, Oct 3 - The European Commission said on Wednesday it had opened an in-depth investigation of plans by IBM to buy Swedish business software company Telelogic for about 5.2 billion crowns ($798.6 million).

The proposed transaction raises competition concerns "given the strong market position that IBM would achieve for certain types of software development tools, in particular so-called 'software modelling and requirements management' tools", the EU executive said in a statement.

The Commission now has 90 working days, until Feb. 20, to decide whether the takeover would significantly impede effective competition. The decision to open an indepth inquiry does not prejudge the final result of the investigation, it said.

"After this transaction IBM would become by far the largest vendor of software development tools for software modeling and for requirements management," Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in the statement.

"It is the Commission's duty to thoroughly analyze the effects of such a transaction and to ensure that it would not harm competition in the software development tools sector," she said.

The products of IBM, the world's largest technology services company, and Telelogic help companies model, build and test complex systems such as aircraft radar and automotive anti-lock braking systems.

Telelogic is based in Malmo, Sweden with more than 1,100 employees in 22 countries. Its U.S. headquarters are in Irvine, California.

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