06:07 AM EDT, 04/01/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Microsoft ( MSFT ) plans to separate sales of its chat and video app Teams from its Office product line across the world, Reuters reported Monday, citing a company spokesperson.

The company did the same last year in Europe to avoid the scrutiny of antitrust investigators following a lawsuit by Salesforce ( CRM ) alleging Microsoft ( MSFT ) was abusing its market power in the operating system space to drive out competitors like Slack in the messaging field.

"To ensure clarity for our customers, we are extending the steps we took last year to unbundle Teams from M365 and O365 in the European Economic Area and Switzerland to customers globally," a Microsoft ( MSFT ) spokesperson was cited as saying by Reuters.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) did not immediately reply to MT Newswires' request for comment.

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