"We are happy to announce that all required pre-close regulatory filings around the world have been made and the matter is now under review in those respective jurisdictions," the statement says. "We expect that the deal will close some time in the first half of 2011 but do not have any further details to share at this time."

An in-depth merger review can hold up a big acquisition by several months. The EU had competitive concerns about Oracle's acquisition of Sun, and Oracle had to wait four months after the EU began its investigation to close the deal.

When Intel announced the US$7.7 billion acquisition, it said it expected to close the deal in the first quarter of next year, or even by the end of 2010, the Journal noted. A statement on Intel's website says it now hopes to close the deal in the first half of 2011, the Journal reported.