Microsoft to avoid French antitrust investigation as rival says its complaint will be dismissed

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) -U.S. tech giant Microsoft looks set to avoid a French antitrust investigation into its search operations because regulators are planning to dismiss a complaint by Qwant, the French rival search engine said on Wednesday. Qwant, which has historically relied on Microsoft's Bing platform to deliver search and news results, took a grievance against Microsoft's search practices to the French regulator earlier this year. It said on Wednesday it may challenge the decision to reject its case in court or take it to other authorities. Qwant had asked the watchdog to take interim action against Microsoft while it decided if there was sufficient grounds for an investigation. Qwant Chief Executive Olivier Abecassis said the French authority's investigators at a June