China Approves $69bn US Technology Merger

Computer chipmaker Broadcom has completed its $69bn (£55bn) acquisition of cloud computing firm VMware, wrapping up one of the biggest takeover deals in the technology sector.

The deal was scrutinised by regulators around the world ahead of last clearance from China.

There were concerns it could be affected by US-China tensions.

The approval follows a meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping at Apec summit in the US last week.

American company Broadcom – headquartered in San Jose, California – designs, develops and supplies semiconductor chips while it also offers infrastructure software solutions.

VMware – also an American company with headquarters in Palo Alto, California- develops virtualisation software which allows a user to run a virtual computer on a physical computer to increase the efficiency of the computer system.

Broadcom’s president and chief executive officer, Hock Tan, said they were excited to bring together their teams to build “the world’s leading infrastructure technology company”.

Together, they hope to create private and hybrid cloud environments where users can run “apps anywhere”.

To complete the deal, the firmhas sought and received legal merger clearances in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, Israel, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, the UK.

Shares in VMWare will now cease to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), according to the company.

The US and China have been engaged in a trade war since 2018 when the then US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs and other trade barriers on China.

Advanced chips, which are used in everything from cars, smartphones to fighter jets, have been the most recent hot commodity.

Last month, China hit back at the Biden administration’s decision to impose new restrictions on their exports.

But the two leaders who met during the Apec summit managed to agree on a number of issues ranging from tackling climate change together to resuming military communication.

Despite President Biden calling President Xi “a dictator”, China’s state-owned media hailed it as a historic summit which would be a “new starting point” for their relations.

Broadcom has been caught up tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.

In 2017, the firm announced what would have been the largest-ever takeover deal for rival Qualcomm.

But four months later, it was blocked by Mr Trump after US national security officials warned that a deal could help China overtake America in the race to develop 5G technology.

Weeks later, Broadcom decided to move relocate to the US from Singapore.