According to sources familiar with the situation on Saturday, chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO.O) is closing on a $3.8 billion deal to sell its business, which enables customers to access desktops and applications from any device, to private equity company KKR (KKR.N).CEO of Broadcom Hock Tan is attempting to simplify the company’s offerings with this possible deal, following the completion of his $69 billion acquisition of software maker VMware in November.
According to the sources, KKR beat out other private equity firms, including as EQT (EQTAB.ST), in the auction for the end-user computing (EUC) unit.The sources indicated that the deal might be revealed as early as Monday. KR declined to comment, citing confidentiality in the case.Requests for comments were not immediately answered by EQT or Broadcom.In December, Broadcom said that it planned to sell its end-user computing division.It is also making a separate effort to sell off VMware’s Carbon Black security software division.
In the industry, KKR is no stranger to closing deals.It paid $8.5 billion in 2018 to acquire the American business software company BMC, and two years later it merged BMC with Compuware, which it had previously bought from Thoma Bravo, a buyout group.For roughly $1.7 billion in 2021, private equity firms Charlesbank Capital Partners and M/C Partners sold their information services technology business, Ensono, to KKR.According to the sources, Citigroup is advising Broadcom on the deal, while Evercore, Deutsche Bank, and Jefferies are advising KKR.Debt financing for the purchase is being provided by KKR’s capital market subsidiary, Jefferies, and UBS Group.