Broadcom set to win EU nod for $61 billion VMware deal, sources say

[June 12, 2023]  By Foo Yun Chee
 
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Broadcom is set to gain conditional EU antitrust approval for its $61 billion proposed acquisition of cloud computing firm VMware, people familiar with the matter said.   

A smartphone with a displayed Broadcom logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

The European Commission's clearance is tied to Broadcom's interoperability remedies to rivals to address competition concerns, the people said.

The EU antitrust watchdog, which is scheduled to decide on the deal by July 17, and Broadcom declined to comment.

One of the remedies focuses on Fibre Channel Host-Bus Adapters (FC HBAs) and is targeted at rival Marvell Technology, one of the people said. Marvell Technology did not respond to a request for comment.

FC HBAs are storage adapters that connect servers to storage located outside the server on a storage-area network using the fiber channel protocol, typically through a switch. Broadcom is a leading supplier of FC HBAs.

Broadcom supplies chips used in data centres for networking and specialised chips that speed up AI work.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.