The antitrust authority is looking at conglomerate effects as there don't appear to any horizontal overlaps besides Endpoint Security and there are no vertical concerns, according to a Dealreporter item on Tuesday, citing sources familiar. The companies are still responding to the FTC request for more information from July.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3914421-ftc-review-of-broadcoms-vmware-deal-said-focused-on-conglomerate-effects
19 replies (most recent on top)
Looking for conglomerate effects is almost always a 'we've looked at everything else and found nothing' box ticking exercise. Conglomerate effects are certainly the toughest case to present as an objection to a m&a. I agree with the bets we'll see a decision before end of December from all 3 agencies unless the UK staff is on holiday really early this year.
What business practices and political ties are you referring to?
How does Broadcom relocating its HQ to the US a few years ago, change its business practices, and political ties?
What's religion got to do with anything?
Moving to America doesn't make you Christian, moving to Israel doesn't make you Jewish, and moving to India doesn't make you Hindu
Broadcom is an American company.
Sigh…another American company is going to be bought and destroyed by an Asian company and the FTC is going to let it happen. Next the US will wrapping up Taiwan with a bow and handing it to China for Christmas!
That’s very astute but the second phase never officially happened despite what your article from months ago cites. If the EU has no further comments this month then it passes their review. Yes the ftc is still pending but they have been very quiet
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3914421-ftc-review-of-broadcoms-vmware-deal-said-focused-on-conglomerate-effects
I heard they also replaced the coffee machines…
Ya know, the ones that were already working perfectly well because no one was in the office even using them…
Hi, ho. Hi, ho. It’s off to work I go…
This board is driving me crazy! People come on here, and post like they are authorities on M&A, but then don't have their facts straight. No wonder everyone is confused and depressed. And our mo--nic leadership, can't arm anyone with any type of useful knowledge for which to base our lives and careers on. All they can do is tell us to come back to the office, but can't make any intelligent argument for why, other than they spent money on news cubes and carpeting.
CRN is a sh1t rag, but the reporting states
Broadcom wrote in regulatory filings that it notified the FTC of its agreement to acquire VMware on June 10. On July 11, Broadcom and VMware were notified that the FTC would undertake a “second request” look at the deal, a review process that halts a transaction until the review is complete, according to Broadcom’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
“The parties may not complete the transactions until they substantially comply with the second request and observe a second 30-calendar-day waiting period, unless the waiting period is terminated earlier, or the parties commit not to close for some additional period of time,” Broadcom wrote in an SEC filing it posted last week.
@1lni+1k3E5z58, what do you mean the FTC has not moved into Phase 2? I admit I'm mostly ignorant of how regulatory reviews work, but I thought the FTC announced their 'Second Request' in early October. See link - https://www.crn.com/news/channel-news/ftc-second-request-investigation-of-broadcom-vmware-deal-launches-5-things-to-know
I have accepted this deal is inevitable, but I truly hope it drags on as long as possible. The reason is, the longer it drags on the more Hock suffers inside. I'm sure it's ki----g him to watch us take EPIC days off, and continue to pay all the people he wants to lay off.
Are you following it closely? Have you seen the influx of propaganda in the media? Have you noticed a few things internally?
The date Feb 22 has been mentioned in here a few times, let’s walk backwards from there. The EU has until Dec 20 to either raise more concerns or allow closure. They have been on the clock since early October. The ftc has not moved this into phase 2, Largely because there is no reason to. Despite your emotions or what anyone may think about this deal there is no monopoly or conglomerate. They have been almost silent on this since July. Now, If the ftc relents and approves we enter a quiet period to delist and that will last anywhere from 30-60 days. After that the horde enters and we know what happens then. Puts us on target for mid February. Expect to know by the epic holiday shutdown
Regardless we are well overdo for a layoff. When will largely depend on the ftc
@1bgn+1k3E5z58 why do you say "It’s about to close"?
Looks like FTC is still looking into it.
Game on, it’s happening.
It’s about to close
Conglomerate effects arise when a merger has an effect on competition, but the merging firms’ products are not in the same product market, nor are they inputs or outputs of one another.
Mergers exhibiting conglomerate effects have taken on a new prominence in the digital era, as the largest technology companies use acquisitions as a key part of their product development, expansion and recruitment strategies. These transactions are generally considered to be procompetitive: they can allow the combination of complementary skills and assets, improve interoperability, and facilitate innovation. However, there can also be some potential competition concerns associated with these mergers. They include the potential for bundling and tying, reduced innovation incentives, and co-ordinated effects.
Investigating conglomerate effects can be particularly difficult, as it is not straightforward to identify when they are likely to arise. Information gathering, addressing uncertainty in the development of the market, and assessing remedies for conglomerate effects are some of the key challenges faced by competition authorities in these cases.
All related materials for the discussion are available on this page.
https://www.oecd.org/daf/competition/conglomerate-effects-of-mergers.htm#:~:text=Conglomerate%20effects%20arise%20when%20a,or%20outputs%20of%20one%20another.
What does this mean? Getting too big as a company?