European Union competition authorities are intensifying their examination of Broadcom Inc.’s changes to VMware software licensing, seeking information from European cloud providers as a deadline approaches that could restrict how some companies sell VMware subscriptions.
EU officials have asked cloud providers about the commercial importance of VMware products, the availability of alternatives and the effects of Broadcom’s revised certification and licensing arrangements, according to Bloomberg, which said it reviewed a series of questions sent to companies in July. The scrutiny follows Broadcom’s $61 billion acquisition of VMware Inc. and concerns that the post-deal changes may be harming customers.
According to Bloomberg, regulators are also seeking information about potentially unfair restrictions stemming from the new arrangements and have requested data on the size of Europe’s public and private cloud markets.
The inquiries come ahead of a March 31 deadline that…
