Broadcom's VMware Acquisition Faces Legal Challenge in EU, Company Denies Allegations

Broadcom's acquisition of VMware has been challenged by the Cloud Infrastructure Service Providers in Europe (CISPE) in the European General Court. CISPE represents Europe's leading sovereign cloud infrastructure providers and has filed an appeal against the European Commission's approval of the acquisition. Broadcom disagrees with the allegations, but details of the challenge are not specified. The acquisition was approved by the European Commission in June 2022.

European Union judges are set to review chipmaker Broadcom's $69 billion acquisition of cloud computing firm VMware, following an antitrust complaint filed by the Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE). The European General Court will consider the appeal filed by CISPE, which seeks to annul the European Commission's approval of the deal.

CISPE, representing Europe's leading sovereign cloud infrastructure providers, argues that the European Commission's approval of the acquisition posed significant risks to competition but failed to impose any conditions to prevent a concentration of dominance or mitigate potential abuse of a dominant position. The organization has consistently raised concerns over Broadcom's unfair software licensing practices, claiming that VMware's dominance in the virtualization market has led to unfair new licensing terms affecting almost every European organization using cloud technology.

Broadcom, however, maintains that the deal was approved after a thorough merger review process and that the company will uphold the commitments made to the European Commission at that time. The acquisition, announced in May 2022, was part of Broadcom CEO Hock Tan's efforts to boost the chipmaker's software business.

The European Commission has not immediately responded to requests for comment, but a spokesperson for the European Commission said it is ready to defend its decisions in court. Broadcom's spokesperson also stated that the company strongly disagrees with CISPE's allegations.

This development comes as the acquisition, one of the biggest globally when announced, has faced intense scrutiny from regulators worldwide. The closing date was delayed thrice due to regulatory scrutiny.

References:
[1] https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/europes-cispe-challenges-broadcoms-69-billion-vmware-deal-eu-court-2025-07-24/
[2] https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/BROADCOM-VMWARE-CISPE-2726af50-3e56-493d-8a5f-25ed0be61e8e
[3] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/europes-cispe-challenges-broadcoms-69-165030317.html
[4] https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/europes-cispe-challenges-broadcoms-69-billion-vmware-deal-in-eu-court-4151596