LONDON: The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has cleared US-based hardware firm Broadcom’s $61 bn purchase of desktop virtualisation software provider VMware following an in-depth investigation.

The CMA found that Broadcom’s deal to buy VMWare “would not substantially reduce competition in the supply of server hardware components in the UK.”

Following its initial Phase 1 investigation, the CMA identified competition concerns warranting in-depth review and referred the deal to a Phase 2 inquiry.

In the ‘Phase 2’ probe, it has found that the potential financial benefit to Broadcom and VMware of making rival products work less well with VMware’s software would not outweigh the potential financial cost in terms of lost business.