The EU is Investigating Broadcom's $61 Billion Deal to Buy VMware
upstart writes:
One of biggest (and dullest) big tech acquisitions ever may be blocked by the European Commission:
The European Union plans to carry out a full-scale investigation of Broadcom's $61 billion bid to buy VMware. Following a preliminary probe, the European Commission, the bloc's executive branch, announced on Tuesday it believes the proposed acquisition may allow Broadcom to "restrict competition" in the markets for network interface cards, fiber channel host-bus adapters and storage adapters.
Specifically, the EU is concerned Broadcom may harm competition in those markets by limiting interoperability between rival hardware and VMware's server virtualization software. [...]
The Commission will also investigate whether Broadcom could hinder rivals like NVIDIA and Intel from developing their own smart network interface cards. Here it points to VMWare's involvement in Project Monterey, an industry-wide effort the company announced in 2020. "Broadcom may decrease VMware's involvement in Project Monterey to protect its own NICs revenues," the Commission notes. "This could hamper innovation to the detriment of customers." Another concern is that Broadcom could start bundling VMware's virtualization software with its own mainframe and security tools, a move that would reduce choice in the market.
Previously:
Broadcom to Acquire VMware in Massive $61B Deal
Broadcom in Talks to Buy Cloud Computing Firm VMWare
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