Broadcom's proposed buyout of VMware looks set to proceed after the "go-shop" period for alternative offers expired without any rival bidders coming forward.

The move could mean bad news for many customers if Broadcom follows a policy of focusing only on the needs of the largest corporate accounts.

Broadcom announced its [1]intention to acquire VMware on May 26 in an agreement that valued the cloud and virtualization company at $61 billion. It is subject to the usual regulatory approvals and other closing conditions, including approval by VMware shareholders, but the merger Ts&Cs also included a "go-shop" provision under which VMware could solicit alternative proposals during a 40-day period following the signing.

[2]

That 40-day period expired at 23:59 Pacific Time on July 5, but no rival bidder has emerged to offer a superior proposal, according to [3]Bloomberg , which cited loquacious sources said to be familiar with the matter. This clears the way for the Broadcom takeover to proceed, a transaction that is expected to complete in Broadcom's fiscal 2023, which runs from November 2022 until October 2023.

[4]

[5]

The sale has been met with mixed reactions from VMware customers, some of whom fear Broadcom will cut back on research and development costs and focus on extracting revenue from the largest customer accounts.

As reported by The Register last month, analyst companies including S&P Global Market Intelligence and Gartner have offered negative evaluations of Broadcom's takeover. Their conclusions were based on [6]surveys of VMware customers who fear the potential impact on software licensing terms and conditions, with 56 percent expressing negative sentiments and over a quarter of them rating their response to the purchase as "extremely negative."

[7]Ditching VMware over the Broadcom buy? Here are some of your options

[8]Broadcom sketches out VMware ambitions that stretch from mainframe to cloud

[9]VMware customers fear Broadcom acquisition will stall innovation, increase cost

[10]VMware customers have watched Broadcom's acquisitions and don't like what they see

Broadcom offered some clues to its [11]post-merger plans for VMware in the company's earnings call in May. Tom Krause, president of Broadcom's Software Group, said it planned to phase out perpetual licenses in favor of subscription-based licensing for customers over the next few years.

Krause appeared to suggest that Broadcom would both invest in VMware's product portfolio and continue to address the needs of VMware's broader customer base, currently believed to be over 300,000 accounts.

[12]

This would contrast with the strategy adopted by Broadcom with its earlier acquisitions such as CA Technologies and Symantec's enterprise portfolio, where the company focused on direct relationships with the largest global companies among the customer base and smaller companies began to drift away because of a lack of engagement.

Gartner's advice for VMware customers was to lock in long-term pricing with VMware before the transaction closes on the Broadcom takeover. It said that organizations should ensure that VMware commits to specific provisions in writing before making large or strategic financial investments, and they should negotiate caps on future increases to subscription license fees.

VMware was [13]spun out from out Dell Technologies late last year. Michael Dell and Silver Lake investors, which together own the majority of the VMware shares, agreed to vote in favor of the Broadcom deal. ®

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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/26/broadcom_vmware_merger/

[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YsWxnevygZXwrX32oo5lFQAAAEE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[3] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-05/vmware-broadcom-deal-said-to-move-ahead-as-go-shop-period-ends

[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YsWxnevygZXwrX32oo5lFQAAAEE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YsWxnevygZXwrX32oo5lFQAAAEE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/09/gartner_broadcom_vmware_advice/

[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/28/vmware_broadcom_alternatives/

[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/23/broadcom_vmware_acquisition_post/

[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/09/gartner_broadcom_vmware_advice/

[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/31/vmware_broadcom_acquisition_customer_reaction/

[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/27/broadcom_vmware_subscriptions/

[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/virtualization&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YsWxnevygZXwrX32oo5lFQAAAEE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/01/vmwares_divorce_dell/

[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/