The UK’s competition regulator opened its threatened deeper probe into a proposed acquisition of cloud software player VMware by Broadcom, after failing to receive any proposals from the tech giant addressing initial concerns.

In a statement, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) revealed Broadcom had informed the regulator it would not be offering any proposed remedies on the day the warning was issued (22 March).

After the expiry of the deadline for suggested remedies, the CMA opened the second phase of its investigation.

The regulator’s concerns raised during its initial investigation phase centred on fears UK businesses could end up paying more for server components due to a lack of market competition.

Economic areas cited by the authority as potentially suffering include telecommunications, banking and the public sector.

Among the points raised by the CMA was a fear Broadcom would be in a position to prevent rivals from supplying VMware-compatible hardware components if the deal went through.

Broadcom struck its big money deal for VMware in May 2022, which has since attracted the attention of competition regulators in the UK, Europe and the US.