Broadcom CEO seeks to convince EU on $61 billion VMware deal

Reuters

Published May 05, 2023 01:04AM ET

Updated May 05, 2023 11:52AM ET

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO)'s Chief Executive Hock Tan on Friday will try to convince EU antitrust enforcers that his proposed $61 billion bid for cloud computing firm VMware (NYSE:VMW), which has triggered scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic, is pro-competitive.

Tan, flanked by his executives and lawyers, arrived early Friday morning in Brussels for a closed hearing on one of the biggest tie-ups in the history of the technology sector. He declined to comment as he headed into the hearing.

Tan will present his arguments to senior European Commission officials, including its deputy director general for mergers Guillaume Loriot, and their counterparts from national competition agencies as well as lawyers from the EU executive.

VMware President Sumit Dhawan will appear remotely at the hearing. There are no other third parties at the hearing.

Broadcom's request for the hearing came after the Commission last month warned the deal may restrict competition in the market for certain hardware components which interoperate with VMware's software.