The European Commission (EC) temporarily halted an investigation of a $61 billion move by Broadcom to buy VMware after a request for additional information from the US chipmaker, Reuters reported.

An EC representative told Reuters holds were implemented in cases where companies had failed to provide information the body requested within a set period of time.

It recommences the probe after receiving the information, with the overall timeline adjusted accordingly.

The EC opened the probe in December 2022 to examine whether the deal would enable Broadcom to restrict competition for certain hardware components which interoperate with VMware’s software, with a focus on network interface cards (NIC), and fibre channel host-bus and storage adapters.

It is also examining if the transaction could impact development of smart NICs and if Broadcom would bundle its own software with VMware’s virtualisation offering, preventing this being offered as a standalone product.

The US Federal Trade Commission and UK Competition and Markets Authority are also investigating the deal.

Broadcom originally targeted completion by end-October.