Broadcom Gets EU Antitrust Approval on VMware Acquisition Deal

US chipmaker Broadcom secured EU antitrust approval on Wednesday for its $61 billion (nearly Rs. 5,00,300 crore) proposed acquisition of cloud computing firm VMware after offering remedies to help rival Marvell Technology.

The deal, Broadcom’s largest ever, will help the chipmaker diversify into enterprise software.

Broadcom offered Marvell and other rivals interoperability commitments related to its Fibre Channel Host-Bus Adapters (FC HBAs), a kind of storage adapters, the European Commission said, confirming a Reuters story last month.

Marvell and other rivals will have “guaranteed access to the interoperability Application Programming Interfaces as well as to the materials, tools and technical support necessary for the development and certification of third-party FC HBAs”, the EU competition enforcer said.

Marvell and other rivals will also have guaranteed access to the source code for all of Broadcom’s current and future FC HBA drivers through an irrevocable open source license.

“The commitments offered by Broadcom will enable its only rival Marvell, to continue competing on equal footing and ensure a similar protection for any future entrants,” EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

The US Federal Trade Commission and the UK competition agency are also examining the deal.

“We continue to make progress with our various regulatory filings around the world, having received legal merger clearance in Australia, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, South Africa, and Taiwan, and foreign investment control clearance in all necessary jurisdictions,” Broadcom said in a statement. 

© Thomson Reuters 2023


Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Broadcom Said to Gain Conditional EU Antitrust Approval for VMware Deal

US chipmaker Broadcom is set to gain conditional EU antitrust approval for its $61 billion (nearly Rs. 5,03,000 crore) proposed acquisition of cloud computing firm VMware, people familiar with the matter said, sending its shares up by almost 5 percent.

The European Commission’s clearance is tied to remedies relating to Broadcom’s interoperability with rivals that would address competition concerns, the people said.

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

Broadcom shares rose as much as 5 percent in early trade and were up 4.9 percent at evening. VMware was up 2.7 percent.

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’s other key hurdle is in Britain where the British competition agency will next month announce its provisional findings about the deal and possible remedies if required.

Companies have become more wary about the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) after it blocked Microsoft’s Activision deal while the EU cleared it.

The US Federal Trade Commission is also investigating Broadcom’s VMware acquisition.

Broadcom, which supplies chips used in data centres for networking and specialised chips that speed up AI work, announced the deal, its biggest, last year to diversify into enterprise software.

© Thomson Reuters 2023


Apple’s annual developer conference is just around the corner. From the company’s first mixed reality headset to new software updates, we discuss all the things we’re looking forward to seeing at WWDC 2023 on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Broadcom CEO Seeks to Convince EU Antitrust Enforcers on $61 Billion VMware Deal

US chipmaker Broadcom‘s Chief Executive Hock Tan on Friday will try to convince EU antitrust enforcers that his proposed $61 billion (nearly Rs. 4,98,300 crore) bid for cloud computing firm VMware, which has triggered scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic, is pro-competitive.

Tan, flanked by his executives and lawyers, arrived early Friday morning in Brussels for a closed hearing on one of the biggest tie-ups in the history of the technology sector. He declined to comment as he headed into the hearing.

Tan will present his arguments to senior European Commission officials, including its deputy director general for mergers Guillaume Loriot, and their counterparts from national competition agencies as well as lawyers from the EU executive.

VMware President Sumit Dhawan will appear remotely at the hearing. There are no other third parties at the hearing.

Broadcom’s request for the hearing came after the Commission last month warned the deal may restrict competition in the market for certain hardware components which interoperate with VMware’s software.

The company had hoped that regulators would consider the presence of Amazon, Microsoft and Google in the cloud computing market as proof of strong competition, other people familiar with the matter told Reuters last year.

Broadcom is expected to offer remedies in the coming days after the oral hearing. The EU deadline for a decision is June 21, which will be extended once concessions are submitted.

© Thomson Reuters 2023


Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Broadcom Says Will Buy VMware in $61 Billion Deal to Diversify Into Enterprise Software

Broadcom said on Thursday it will buy cloud service provider VMware in a $61 billion (roughly Rs. 4,73,223 crore) cash-and-stock deal to further diversify the chipmaker’s business into enterprise software.

Broadcom’s shares were up 1.6 percent, while those of VMWare were down nearly one percent in premarket trading.

The acquisition is the second biggest announced globally so far this year, after Microsoft’s $68.7 billion (roughly Rs. 5,32,955 crore) deal to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard in January.

Each VMware shareholder will get $142.50 (roughly Rs. 11,000) per share, resulting in a premium of over 48 percent to the stock’s close since the deal talks were first reported on May 22.

VMware shareholders will get $142.50 in cash or 0.2520 shares of a Broadcom common stock for each VMware share held.

© Thomson Reuters 2022


Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Exit mobile version