LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Chipmaker Broadcom is in talks to acquire fellow US technology firm VMware, it was reported on Monday.
According to multiple media reports, including Reuters and Bloomberg, talks between the two companies are ongoing and remain at early stages. If agreed, however, a deal could be worth more than $50bn, the Financial Times noted.

Both Broadcom and VMware have yet to comment.

The deal would be the latest in a series of major acquisitions by Broadcom, which acquired CA Technologies for $18.9bn in 2018 and spent $10.7bn buying Symantec's security arm in 2019.

Broadcom's chief executive Hock Tan also attempted to buy chipmaker Qualcomm in 2018, but was blocked by then president Donald Trump on national security concerns.

VMware is a leader in cloud computing. It was acquired by tech billionaire Michael Dell with private equity firm Silver Lake in 2016, when they paid $67bn for conglomerate EMC.

Last November, Dell Technologies spun off its 81% stake in VMware with Dell himself retaining the remaining 19%.

Michael Dell is now VMware's largest investor, with a stake of around 40%, and would be in line for a substantial windfall should the deal go ahead.

As at 1445 BST, Broadcom's shares were down 1%, while VMware's had surged 22%.

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