Broadcom denied names of cloud providers backing VMware merger challenge
EU court's confidentiality ruling clears a procedural hurdle, not the merits of CISPE's case against Commission approval
The European Commission's approval of Broadcom's acquisition of VMware has been challenged by CISPE, a Euro cloud trade association. CISPE argued that the Commission failed to impose any conditions on Broadcom to protect European cloud providers and their customers who rely on VMware's software. Broadcom sought to access confidential information identifying members supporting the challenge, but CISPE ruled that this information could not be disclosed.
CISPE believes that revealing such information could expose these members to retaliation due to Broadcom's market power. The ruling is a procedural decision, not a substantive one, and it allows the case to proceed without disclosing the identities of the members. CISPE warned the Commission that Broadcom would use VMware's dominant position in the private cloud market to alter licensing terms and reshape the market in its favor.
Following the acquisition, VMware ended its channel program in early 2024 and excluded most of its Cloud Services Providers, keeping only a few with the highest turnover.
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