The EU has approved Broadcom’s $61 billion
The European Commission approved US chipmaker Broadcom’s planned $61 billion buyout of cloud computing business VMware on Wednesday, subject to the company executing specific obligations to alleviate competition concerns.
According to AFP, antitrust regulators in the European Union and the United Kingdom initiated investigations after the large purchase raised worries about competition.
The commission stated that the deal, as initially envisaged, “would harm competition in the worldwide market for the supply” of Fibre Channel Host-Bus Adapters (FC HBAs).
Broadcom made interoperability promises to rival Marvell Technology and any other future competitors as a remedy, according to the EU’s executive arm.
In addition, the business promised access to the source code for all of its present and future FC HBA drivers.
According to the commission, “the proposed acquisition, as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns.”
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of the United Kingdom decided in March to expand its investigation into the mega-merger.
Broadcom is looking to expand into the software sector in order to grow its server business, and has previously bought two similar companies, CA Technology and Symantec.
The antitrust watchdogs in the European Union and Britain launched probes after the massive deal had raised concerns about competition, AFP reported.
During the in-depth investigation, the commission said it found that the transaction, as originally proposed, “would harm competition in the worldwide market for the supply” of Fibre Channel Host-Bus Adapters (FC HBAs).
As a remedy, Broadcom offered interoperability commitments to rival Marvell Technology and any other potential competition, the EU’s executive arm said.
The company also guaranteed access to the source code for all of its current and future FC HBA drivers.
The commission concluded that “the proposed acquisition, as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns”.
