According to media reports, Oracle CEO and founder Larry Ellison recently revealed that the delay in the European Commission's (EC) antitrust review of Oracle's $7.4 billion takeover of Sun Microsystems is costing it $100 million a month.

Speaking at the Churchill Club here in Fairmont, Ellison said: "Right now, Sun is losing $100 million a month; that's a problem. So, timing is important. We'd like to get this thing done. We'd like to end the uncertainty around this thing."

With reference to rival Hewlett-Packard's latest 'How much uncertainty can you take?' ads, Ellison said: "They're just playing off the uncertainty. The problem we have is, the longer this takes, the more money Sun will lose, and that's not good for anybody."

Ellison's disclosure follows earlier reports which suggested that the review is costing Sun business, thereby potentially making it a much weaker company by the time the proposed acquisition by Oracle finally comes through.

A report from research firm IDC showed that Sun posted the biggest revenue drop last quarter, vis-à-vis other major server suppliers, thereby implying a notable loss of market share for the company.

In fact, commenting on the delayed EC review, Brent Williams, an analyst at the European Union's Benchmark Co., said that while the delay will not have much effect on Sun's software business, its business selling hardware would likely suffer.