A month after the EU determined to research semiconductor maker Broadcom’s proposed buyout of virtualization big VMware, the UK has stated it is going to do the identical.

Broadcom first introduced the settlement with the cloud computing firm in May 2022 as a solution to diversify your expertise portfolio.

The Competitors and Markets Authority (CMA) didn’t provide particulars about its stage 1 investigation, though the regulator stated earlier, in November 2022, that the merger may “lead to a substantial reduction of the competitors”.

European regulators have been extra express about their method. What register stated in October Broadcom final yr believed it may persuade European regulators that its buy would truly create extra competitors within the cloud market, which is dominated by Microsoft, Amazon and Google.

Then, surprisingly, the union of member states determined that it will examine the Broadcom/VMware deal for its impression on {hardware}fairly than, for instance, competitors within the cloud area or the potential for software program value will increase, with VMware merchandise being by far the dominant platform in server virtualization.

The EU thought is that Broadcom may mix mainframe and safety merchandise with standard virty software program, or use VMware’s involvement within the Monterrey Undertaking to “hinder SmartNIC growth” by rival distributors, although some in register say that is miss a trickarguing that the EU ought to search compromises round software program pricing.

Broadcom has repeatedly fixed has no plans to extend prices, with CEO Hock Tan saying, “Broadcom’s enterprise case for this transaction relies on specializing in the enterprise mannequin, rising R&D and executing so clients see worth within the portfolio.” filled with modern product choices – not on rising costs.”

If the merger goes forward, Broadcom’s Software program Group will rebrand and function as VMware, incorporating Broadcom’s current infrastructure and safety software program options as a part of an expanded VMware portfolio, in line with statements by the 2 firms.

The deadline for the CMA Section 1 choice is place [PDF] by March 22, when it is going to both set the phaser to 2 or take away the probe altogether. ®