VMware-Broadcom Deal Worth $61 Billion Said to Move Ahead as Go-Shop Period Ends

Broadcom’s offer had the support of key VMware shareholders Michael Dell and Silver Lake.

By Liana Baker and Michelle F. Davis, Bloomberg | Updated: 6 July 2022 14:17 IST

VMware-Broadcom Deal Worth $61 Billion Said to Move Ahead as Go-Shop Period Ends

Photo Credit: Bloomberg

VMware’s stock has fallen about 8.2 percent since the deal was announced

Highlights

VMware had 40 days to solicit rival offers
Representatives for VMware and Broadcom couldn't be reached for comment
Go-shops are rare in deals this big

Broadcom's $61 billion (nearly Rs. 4,83,900 lakh crore) deal for VMware will move forward after a rival bidder failed to emerge to break up the deal for the cloud-computing company during its so-called “go-shop” period, according to people familiar with the matter.

VMware, which had 40 days to solicit rival offers, may disclose the outcome of that effort, although its plans haven't been finalised, said one of the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn't public. VMware had until 11:59 PM Pacific time Tuesday (12:29 AM IST Wednesday) to solicit other bids, according to the deal announcement in May.

Representatives for VMware and Broadcom couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Facebook Parent Meta to Use Broadcom Chips for Metaverse Hardware: Report

The expiration of the go-shop gets Broadcom past at least one hurdle to the biggest-ever takeover by a semiconductor maker. The clause helped Broadcom secure a merger agreement with the company, a Silicon Valley pioneer that provides virtualisation software.

To move swiftly during takeover negotiations, VMware agreed to forgo speaking with other potential bidders so long as a go-shop was included in the agreement, Bloomberg News reported last month. Go-shops are rare in deals this big.

Broadcom's offer had the support of key VMware shareholders Michael Dell and Silver Lake.

Broadcom’s VMware Acquisition and Other Deals Under CEO Hock Tan: A Timeline

Merger specialists surveyed by Bloomberg News in May said there was a low probability that a higher bid would emerge and expected the deal to take about 12 months to compete, due to the potential for multiple regulatory reviews.

VMware's stock has fallen about 8.2 percent since the deal was announced on May 26, compared with a 3.9 percent decline in the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index.

Broadcom Said to Be in Talks to Acquire VMware

How will India's new liberalised drone rules impact the industry? And where are they left wanting? We discussed this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.