This year seems to be one for the record books, at least when acquisitions in the tech space are concerned. Microsoft’s pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion and Dell’s acquisition of EMC for $67 billion six years ago remain some of the biggest ones to date.
Now, after quite some time of “will-they-won’t-they,” it is official – Broadcom will be acquiring cloud software company VMware for a humongous $61 billion to further its expansion into the enterprise software space.
Once the second-biggest acquisition in the global arena this year is completed (which does not seem to be earlier than Broadcom’s fiscal year 2023), we will see Broadcom rebrand and operate as VMware. The deal will also include Broadcom assuming $8 billion in VMware debt.
This is the second-biggest takeover attempt by Broadcom – the first place goes to its failed attempt to buy smartphone chip behemoth Qualcomm for more than $100 billion in 2018.
The shares of both companies rose once the cash-and-stock deal was made official. While Broadcom’s shares rose by 4.13% to currently trade at $553.57, VMware’s shares rose by nearly 4% in pre-market trading and are currently trading at $125.01.
“Building upon our proven track record of successful M&A, this transaction combines our leading semiconductor and infrastructure software businesses with an iconic pioneer and innovator in enterprise software as we reimagine what we can deliver to customers as a leading infrastructure technology company. We look forward to VMware’s talented team joining Broadcom, further cultivating a shared culture of innovation and driving even greater value for our combined stakeholders, including both sets of shareholders,” said Hock Tan, President and CEO of Broadcom.
Broadcom first entered the software space four years ago with the $18.9 billion acquisition of CA Technologies and followed it up by acquiring Symantec’s security division for $10.7 billion the next year.
The acquisition will let Broadcom, which is known to design, develop, and supply semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions, gain access to VMware’s considerable network of data centers and cloud clients. This will, in turn, further its reach into the enterprise software market and diversify its offerings.
The combined company, according to Broadcom, will provide enterprise customers with “an expanded platform of critical infrastructure solutions to accelerate innovation and address the most complex information technology infrastructure needs.”
If you are a VMware shareholder, then you will get $142.50 in cash or 0.2520 shares of a Broadcom common stock for each VMware share held. It is estimated that current Broadcom shareholders will own approximately 88%, while current VMware shareholders will own about 12% of the combined company.
