Broadcom Inc. Chief Executive Officer Hock Tan is circling his latest target in a streak of software-company acquisitions, this time pursuing VMware Inc. to add steadier revenue flow and wider margins as a hedge against the dramatic ups and downs of demand in the semiconductor business.
The chipmaker could unveil an agreement of about $60 billion, or $140 a share, to acquire cloud-computing company VMware as soon as Thursday in what is likely to be Broadcom’s biggest deal ever, according to people familiar with the matter. VMware created the market for a type of software that lets businesses run corporate networks more efficiently, and recently has shifted toward serving clients who are moving those applications to the cloud, including through a partnership with web-services giant Amazon.com Inc. VMware also sells software for security, networking and managing mobile devices.
