UK Regulators approves Broadcom's $69 billion acquisition of VMware

The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority gave the green signal for Broadcom's $69 billion purchase of VMware, sending shares of both the companies higher in early trading and concluding a two-phase investigation that began in March. The deal, first announced in May of last year and initially valued at $61 billion, cleared one of its biggest regulatory hurdles this week.

“[Broadcom] today affirmed its expectation that its acquisition of VMware will close on October 30, 2023,” the company said in a release.

Broadcom has received the final transaction approval from the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority on Monday. This follows legal merger clearance in the European Union, as well as in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, South Africa and Taiwan, and foreign investment control clearance in all necessary jurisdictions.

“In the U.S., the Hart-Scott-Rodino pre-merger waiting periods have expired, and there is no legal impediment to closing under U.S. merger regulations,” said Broadcom.

With the announcement, the shares of Broadcom and VMware have increased.

VMware shares were up 4.5% on Monday, trading at $161.80 per share.

Broadcom’s shares were trading at $845.72 per share Monday, up 2.5%.

Broadcom said it continues to work “constructively” with regulators in other jurisdictions and is in the “advanced stages” of obtaining the remaining required regulatory approvals, which Broadcom believes will be received before Oct. 30, 2023.

Broadcom revealed its $61 billion bid for VMware in May 2022. The planned acquisition was kept on hold on several occasions over the past 15 months as the companies sought regulatory approvals. It was feared by several geographic regions that Broadcom may use its control of VMware to harm rivals and the market.

However, it now appears those issues are nearly resolved.

“Broadcom is confident that the combination with VMware will enhance competition in the cloud and benefit enterprise customers by giving them more choice and control over where they locate their workloads,” Broadcom said.