Broadcom Inc. offered antitrust commitments to the European Commission in an effort to allay concerns over its proposed $61 billion takeover of cloud-computing company VMware Inc..
(Bloomberg) — Broadcom Inc. offered antitrust commitments to the European Commission in an effort to allay concerns over its proposed $61 billion takeover of cloud-computing company VMware Inc..
The regulator extended its deadline to rule on the deal to July 17, according to a website filing. It gave no further details of the remedies offer, made on May 16.
The transaction marks the biggest-ever takeover for a semiconductor maker and extends an acquisition spree for Broadcom Chief Executive Officer Hock Tan, who has built one of the largest and most diversified companies in the industry.
But in a rare announcement, the commission said last month it sent Broadcom a so-called statement of objections, highlighting potential reasons to block the deal unless sufficient remedies were forthcoming. It warned the transaction could lead to “higher prices, lower quality and less innovation” for business customers.
Broadcom and VMware followed that up with a formal EU hearing in Brussels this month, urging regulators to approve the tie-up.
“While we maintain that this deal does not present any competition issues, we have made a proposal to address fully the concerns expressed by the European Commission,” Broadcom said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. “We expect the transaction will close in Broadcom’s fiscal year 2023,” it said, repeating earlier guidance.
Read More: Broadcom Sent EU Concerns Over $61 Billion VMware Deal
–With assistance from Stephanie Bodoni.
(Updates with statement in last paragraph.)
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