European Commission approves Broadcom’s $61B VMware acquisition

Broadcom Inc., a global technology leader that designs, develops, and supplies semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions, received conditional approval today from the European Commission (EC) to complete its acquisition of VMware for $ 61 billion, meanwhile, in the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is also currently investigating the deal.

With this decision, the Commission recognizes the importance of this combination in enabling enterprises to accelerate growth and momentum in the multi-cloud ecosystem, and in expanding customer choice and creating more potential for increased innovation and competition.

The megabucks deal, which sits among the biggest tech acquisitions of all time, was always likely to attract regulatory scrutiny when it was announced way back in May last year. Europe revealed plans for an in-depth probe in December citing competition concerns, while the U.K. followed suit in March. So while the Broadcom and VMware deal isn’t over the line yet, today’s news is one step closer toward that end.

Broadcom has also received legal merger clearance in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and Taiwan, and foreign investment control clearance in all necessary jurisdictions. While Broadcom believes that its proposed acquisition of VMware will only increase competition and innovation in cloud computing.

Broadcom provided the European Commission with a technology access remedy that preserves interoperability, a core principle that would not have changed as a result of this transaction. Broadcom did this to fully address the concerns expressed by the European Commission, and Broadcom welcomes the Commission’s decision to accept this access remedy.

Broadcom looks forward to continuing to work constructively with regulators around the world. Broadcom is confident that when regulators conclude their review, they too will see that the combination of Broadcom and VMware will enhance competition in the cloud and benefit enterprise customers by giving them more choice and control over where they locate their workloads. Broadcom continues to expect that the transaction will close in its fiscal year 2023.