The investigation relates to concerns of price gouging and decreased competition for hardware components that interoperate with VMware's software. Credit: Etienne Ansotte/EU A month after the UK’s Competition Market’s Authority (CMA) announced it was investigating Broadcom’s proposed acquisition of VMware, European antitrust regulators have launched thier own probe into the $61 billion deal. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is five months into a separate investigation of the deal. Meanwhile, the EU Commision said in a statement published on December 20 that it “is particularly concerned that the transaction would allow Broadcom to restrict competition in the market for certain hardware components which interoperate with VMware’s software.” Elaborating on its concerns, the Commission said the deal could impact the supply of network interface cards, Fibre Channel host-bus adapters, and storage adapters by degrading interoperability between VMware software and competitors’ hardware to the benefit of its own hardware, leading to higher prices, lower quality and less innovation for business customers and consumers. These concerns are not unfounded, as Tracey Woo, senior analyst for Forrester, noted back in September that following the purchases of CA and Symantec, Broadcom raised prices, decreased support, and stopped investing in innovation. However, Broadcom President and CEO Hock Tan had already sought to allay these fears with VMware’s customers, writing in an October blog post that “the Broadcom business case for this transaction is premised on focusing on the business model, increasing R&D, and executing so that customers see the value of the full portfolio of innovative product offerings — not on increasing prices.” The Commission now has until 11 May 2023, 90 working days, to make a ruling. “We look forward to continuing our constructive work with the European Commission as part of their thorough review process,” Broadcom said in a press statement. “We are making progress with our various regulatory filings around the world, having received legal merger clearance in Brazil, South Africa, and Canada, and foreign investment control clearance in Germany, France, Austria, and Italy.” The company said it continues to expect that the transaction will close in 2023. (This story has been updated with a statement from Broadcom and information about the US FTC’s inquiry into the proposed VMware purchase.) Related content news HPE Aruba adds genAI search tools to network management platform HPE Aruba is using proprietary LLMs to better understand questions posed in its Networking Central platform and generate more accurate, detailed responses. By Michael Cooney Mar 26, 2024 2 mins Generative AI Data Center Management Network Management Software brandpost Sponsored by HPE Aruba Networking EdgeConnect SD-WAN with SWG: building a SASE foundation By Gabriel Gomane Mar 25, 2024 7 mins SD-WAN feature 4 reasons to consider a network digital twin Today's network environments are too complex to track by purely manual efforts. With digital twin technology, IT teams can build a virtual model of the production network and use it to validate configurations, simulate changes, and streamline ma By Bob Violino Mar 25, 2024 9 mins IoT Security Network Management Software Network Security news Cisco taps former Microsoft, Broadcom exec to grow networking hardware portfolio Martin Lund will lead the group responsible for delivering the silicon, optics, and hardware for Cisco's core switching, routing, and wireless offerings. By Michael Cooney Mar 25, 2024 2 mins Careers Networking PODCASTS VIDEOS RESOURCES EVENTS NEWSLETTERS Newsletter Promo Module Test Description for newsletter promo module. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe