The European Commission have granted approval to US chipmaker Broadcom for its$61 billion acquisition of cloud computing company VMware (VMW.N).
The acquisition was granted clearance following an investigation into its potential impact on the markets for Network Interface Cards (NICs), Fibre Channel Host-Bus Adapters (FC HBAs), and storage adapters. To address concerns about potential competition limitations, Broadcom has entered into a 10-year agreement that grants any competitors guaranteed access to Broadcom's source code for Fiber Channel Host-Bus Adapters. The main concern revolved around Broadcom impeding interoperability with Marvell's hardware in the FC HBAs market. However, the approval is contingent upon Broadcom's adherence to the commitments for the next decade, with an independent trustee overseeing the compliance.