Broadcom Chief Wants to Convince EU of $61 Billion Contract for VMware
BRUSSELS: US chipmaker Broadcom CEO Hock Tan will try to convince EU antitrust regulators on Friday that his proposed $61 billion bid for cloud computing firm VMware, which has sparked scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic, is pro-competitive.
Tan, backed by his executives and lawyers, arrived in Brussels early Friday morning for a closed-door hearing on one of the biggest mergers in tech history. He declined to comment on the matter while scheduling a hearing.
Tan will present his case to senior European Commission officials, including Guillaume Loriot, its deputy director-general for mergers, and their counterparts from national competition agencies and EU executive lawyers.
VMware President Sumit Dhawan will appear remotely at the hearing. There are no other third parties involved in the processing.
Broadcom requested the hearing after the commission warned last month that the deal could limit competition in the market for certain hardware components that work with VMware’s software.
The company had hoped that regulators would view the presence of Amazon, Microsoft and Google in the cloud services market as evidence of fierce competition, other people familiar with the matter told Reuters last year.
Broadcom is expected to offer remedies in the coming days after the oral hearing. The EU’s deadline for making a decision is June 21, and the decision will continue after concessions are submitted.
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