Broadcom’s $69bn acquisition of cloud software company VMware is set for a lengthy antitrust investigation in Brussels over regulatory concerns that the deal will harm competition across the global technology industry.
Broadcom is already in preliminary discussions with EU officials who will be looking into worries that the merger may lead to abusive behaviour, including potential future price rises by the US chipmaker, three people with direct knowledge of the transaction said.
Many large acquisitions receive similar interrogation, known in EU circles as a “phase 1” investigation, which typically takes a few months to complete. But those close to the situation suggest that EU authorities plan to push forward with a more detailed “phase 2” investigation, which could take well over a year and may ultimately derail the deal altogether.
Nvidia eventually walked away from a proposed $66bn purchase of chip designer Arm after being subject to a lengthy EU antitrust probe.
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