The European Commission said on Friday local time that the EU's antitrust regulator had suspended the investigation into the US chip manufacturer Broadcom's US $61 billion acquisition of VMware, a cloud computing company, and was waiting for Broadcom to provide the required data.

Reuters reported that the investigation, which took effect on January 24, was suspended on January 31.

A spokesman of the European Commission said: "In the merger and acquisition investigation, if the parties fail to provide the important information required by the European Commission in a timely manner, this procedure will be started. Once the parties provide the missing information, the investigation time will be restarted, and the deadline for the Commission to make a decision will be adjusted accordingly."

It is reported that Broadcom's acquisition of VMware is being reviewed by regulators in the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom. In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said that although the acquisition of large technology companies has been subject to more stringent scrutiny in recent years, the acquisition is still a key part of Broadcom's strategy. The company has retained a "select" list of companies that have assets that Broadcom is willing to purchase. In that list, there are companies in semiconductor and software fields.

When asked how VMware fits into other Broadcom product portfolios, Tan said: "It doesn't fit."

"Broadcom's 22 product divisions (including semiconductors, network equipment and enterprise software) Each of them runs independently and shares background functions and some sales teams. Each department is allowed to invest as needed to become the first or maintain their leading position in their respective markets. If any of these departments has to rely on one of their "brother" departments to achieve this goal, they should not exist. " Tan explained.