Broadcom name-drops rivals in bid to fast-track EU approval of $61bn VMware deal - report

The vendor will reportedly cite its cloud competitors Amazon, Microsoft and Google in an effort to accelerate the deal process

Chipmaker Broadcom is looking to speed up antitrust approval from the European Union on its $61bn acquisition of VMware.

The vendor plans to use the names of market rivals Amazon, Microsoft and Google to its advantage, according to reports from Reuters citing people "familiar with the matter".

"This [deal] is creating more competition in the cloud market where there are very big players now. This doesn't have to go to phase two at all," said a Reuters source referring to the European Commission's four-month long second phase investigation.

"For the Commission to go to phase two, there has to be a real competition problem - horizontal, vertical, foreclosure risk - and I think we can show those risks don't really exist in this case," they added.

The news agency said Broadcom has not yet pursued EU approval for its VMware buy.

Broadcom's record-breaking VMware deal

Rumours of Broadcom's takeover of VMware began to circulate in May.

Soon after, the vendor announced it had reached an agreement to acquire VMware for $61bn.

The deal is the second biggest to happen this year following Microsoft 's $68.7bn buy of video game maker Activision Blizzard, and one of the biggest acquisitions to affect the channel since Dell acquired EMC in 2016 for $67bn.

However, shortly after the news broke it was met with uncertainty among some VMware partners who were left with mixed feelings.

XMA's chief revenue officer Andy Wright said an agreement would be "interesting" but is not sure how it would impact the UK channel.

He said: "It's an interesting move, but not one that I think will whole heartedly change the direction of VMware. Broadcom own CA Technologies and Symantec already and have a clear strategy to add further software brands to its investment portfolio."