Broadcom’s $61 billion VMware deal wins conditional EU antitrust OK

BRUSSELS, July 12 (Reuters) – U.S. chip maker Broadcom ( AVGO.O ) on Wednesday secured European Union antitrust approval for its proposed $61 billion acquisition of cloud computing company VMware ( VMW.N ) after offering remedies to help rival Marvell Technology (MRVL.O) ).

The deal, Broadcom’s largest ever, will help the chip maker diversify into enterprise software.

Broadcom offered Marvell and other rivals interoperability commitments related to its Fiber Channel Host-Bus Adapters (FC HBAs), a type of storage adapter, 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’s competition watchdog 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 sole rival Marvell to continue to compete on an equal footing and ensure similar protection for future entrants,” EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

The US Federal Trade Commission and the UK Competition Bureau are also investigating the deal.

“We continue to make progress with our various regulatory filings around the world, having received legal merger approval in Australia, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, South Africa and Taiwan, and foreign investment control approval in all necessary jurisdictions,” Broadcom said in a statement.

Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Jason Neely

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