EU releases US chipmaker Broadcom's $61 billion VMware takeover

July 13, 2023: On Wednesday, U.S. chipmaker Broadcom confirmed E.U. support for its $61 billion offered acquisition of cloud computing firm VMware after suggesting therapies to support rival Marvell Technology.

The deal, Broadcom’s largest ever, will allow the chipmaker diversify into enterprise software.

Broadcom proposed Marvell and different rivals interoperability commitments related to its Fibre Channel Host-Bus Adapters (F.C. HBAs), a kind of repository adapters, the European Commission said, confirming a story the previous month.

Marvell and different rivals will have “guaranteed admission 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 F.C. HBAs,” the E.U. competition enforcer stated.

Marvell and other competition will also have guaranteed access to the source code for Broadcom’s current and future FC HBA drivers through an irrevocable open-source license.

“The duties offered by Broadcom will enable its only rival, Marvell, to continue contending on similar footing and ensure a similar protection for any future entrants,” E.U. antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the U.K. competition agency also examine the deal.

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