CNBC’s David Faber reported Monday that Broadcom had been gearing up to announce its acquisition of VMware as soon as Thursday, but the news could come sooner after several reports said the two companies were in talks.
Some material terms still need to be finalized, and a deal could fall through, Faber said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” It would be a cash-and-stock offer if it materializes, according to sources familiar with the deal. Michael Dell owns about 40% of VMware.
Shares of VMware closed up nearly 25% on Monday. The chipmaker, meanwhile, closed down more than 3%. Bloomberg first reported on Sunday the two companies are in talks.
A deal for VMWare, which had a $40.3 billion market cap as of Friday’s market close, would rank among the biggest acquisitions in the tech sector, behind Microsoft’s nearly $69 billion current deal to purchase Activision Blizzard and Dell’s $67 billion EMC purchase in 2016.
The move could help Broadcom further diversify its business away from semiconductors into enterprise software, which has been a key focus. It would follow its acquisitions of CA Technologies in 2018 for $18.9 billion and Symantec in 2019 for $10.7 billion.
“In particular, they look for sticky, mission-critical enterprise software with a key focus on large Fortune 500 customers. And recent software stock declines may make such deals easier now,” AB Bernstein analysts said in a note Monday to investors.
