The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened an investigation into a proposed $69 billion deal by chipmaker Broadcom to acquire cloud player VMware, seeking to assess the impact of the merger to the country.

In a statement, the CMA explained it decided to investigate the deal to judge if it would substantially lessen competition. If completed, Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware would be one of the biggest technology deals to date.

As well as the UK, Broadcom and VMware are also seeking approvals from the European Union and the US Federal Trade Commission, which last month announced it was progressing its probe to a deeper phase two process.

The CMA explained it was seeking comments from interested parties in a process open until 6 December. It will then assess these before deciding whether to launch a deeper phase one investigation.

Broadcom announced the deal in May in a move to diversify its business into software and build on a deal in 2019 to acquire Symantec for $10.7 billion.

The company stated it would rebrand its Broadcom Software Group to operate as VMware, as well as incorporating existing infrastructure and security solutions as part of the expanded portfolio.

Broadcom and VMware expect the deal to be completed in 2023.