US chipmaker Broadcom set to win EU nod for $61-billion VMware deal

US 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.
 

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.
 

This comes as 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.
 

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.
 

EU antitrust regulators had extended their deadline last month for a decision on the proposed $61 billion bid by three days to June 26. The deadline was extended in agreement with the companies. 
 

Broadcom last week road forecasted third-quarter revenue above estimates, as it benefits from massive corporate investments in AI-related technologies.