The European Union's competition regulator said Tuesday it will investigate five publishing firms on suspicions that they, possibly with the help of Apple Inc. (APPL), "engaged in anti-competitive practices affecting the sale of e-books in the European Economic Area, in breach of EU antitrust rules," according to a written statement.

The publishing firms involved in the investigation are Hachette Livre, owned by Lagardere Publishing; Harper Collins of News Corp. (NWS); Simon & Schuster of CBS Corp. (CBSA); Penguin of Pearson PLC (PSON.LN) and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holzbrinck.

"The commission will in particular investigate whether these publishing groups and Apple have engaged in illegal agreements or practices that would have the object or the effect of restricting competition in the EU or in the EEA," the statement added.

The duration of the formal proceedings opened today depends on how the companies involved will respond to the investigation and how complex each case is.

The European Commission has been investigating this issue in parallel with the U.K. Office of Fair Trading.

The companies involved and the countries where they are based have been informed about the investigation.

News Corp. also owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of this newswire and The Wall Street Journal.

-By Matina Stevis, Dow Jones Newswires; +32 (0)2 741 1 483; matina.stevis@dowjones.com

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