Broadcom’s VMware $69 Billion Deal Sparks Legal Action From European Cloud Alliance

Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe has appealed the EU’s decision, arguing it ignored serious competition risks. A Broadcom rep told TechRepublic the company "strongly disagrees” with the allegations.

The European Union approved Broadcom’s $69 billion acquisition of cloud computing and virtualisation software company VMware in December 2023; however, it may reverse that decision. Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE) has appealed the decision, arguing that it overlooked serious competition risks.

What is CISPE asserting in its appeal?

The alliance of cloud providers, which includes Amazon Web Services, filed a legal complaint with the EU’s General Court on July 24. It asserted that, while the EU acknowledged that the deal posed risks to competition at the time of approval, it failed to impose any safeguards to prevent it from gaining — and potentially abusing — excessive market dominance.

“The dominance of VMware software in the ...