Antitrust regulators review on VMware/Broadcom said to focus on interoperability
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Antitrust regulators around the world are said to be focused on interoperability in their review of Broadcom's (NASDAQ:AVGO) planned $61 billion acquisition of VMware (NYSE:VMW).
Antitrust regulators in the U.S., Europe, UK and China are analyzing whether Broadcom's (AVGO) chips could potentially block hardware competitors from interoperating with VMware's visualization software, according to a Dealreporter item on Tuesday, which cited sources familiar.
The parties have had significant engagements with authorities around the world, though there are no current discussions about potential concessions. The companies don't believe that any remedies are needed for deal approval. 
The latest Dealreporter item comes after the publication in December said that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission was looking at conglomerate effects as there didn't appear to be any horizontal overlaps besides Endpoint Security and there are no verticals concern.
The latest article comes after the UK's antitrust regulator late last month said it would investigate the transaction. The CMA has until March 22 to make a decision on whether the deal will impact competition. In December the European Union said it would open up an "in-depth" investigation into Broadcom's (AVGO) merger of software company VMware.
On Friday traders were circulating a report that U.S. Federal Trade Commission staff are said to be reaching out to third parties to see if they maybe willing to sign declarations for a possible lawsuit to block the megadeal.
In May, Broadcom (AVGO) announced that it was acquiring VMware (VMW) for $61B in cash and stock.