Broadcom's $61 bln VMware deal wins conditional EU antitrust OK (updated)

VMware

12/07/2023 11:05

(Adds Broadcom comment, detail in paragraphs 7,8)
    By Foo Yun Chee
       BRUSSELS, July 12 (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Broadcom
 AVGO.O  secured EU antitrust approval on Wednesday for its $61
billion proposed acquisition of cloud computing firm VMware
 VMW.N  after offering remedies to help rival Marvell Technology
 MRVL.O .
    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 U.S. 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.    
  

 (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Jason Neely)
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