Broadcom CEO seeks to convince EU on $61 billion VMware deal

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Broadcom's Chief Executive Hock Tan on Friday will try to convince EU antitrust enforcers that his proposed $61 billion bid for cloud computing firm VMware, which has triggered scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic, is pro-competitive.

Tan, flanked by his executives and lawyers, arrived early Friday morning in Brussels for a closed hearing on one of the biggest tie-ups in the history of the technology sector. He declined to comment as he headed into the hearing.

Tan will present his arguments to senior European Commission officials, including its deputy director general for mergers Guillaume Loriot, and their counterparts from national competition agencies as well as lawyers from the EU executive.

VMware President Sumit Dhawan will appear remotely at the hearing. There are no other third parties at the hearing.

Broadcom's request for the hearing came after the Commission last month warned the deal may restrict competition in the market for certain hardware components which interoperate with VMware's software.

The company had hoped that regulators would consider the presence of Amazon, Microsoft and Google in the cloud computing market as proof of strong competition, other people familiar with the matter told Reuters last year.

Broadcom is expected to offer remedies in the coming days after the oral hearing. The EU deadline for a decision is June 21, which will be extended once concessions are submitted.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by David Gregorio and Conor Humphries)