Broadcom bought VMware for $61bn in 2023 Credit: Getty Images / Justin Sullivan / Staff

Chipmaker Broadcom is selling its unit that allows users to remotely access desktops to KKR in a deal valued at around $4bn. The deal marks the latest move from CEO Hock Tan to streamline the portfolio of inherited assets from its $61bn acquisition of software maker VMware in 2023. 

The end-user computing unit (EUC) will now become a separate company and will keep its existing management team led by Shankar Iyer, KKR said in a statement on Monday (26 February).

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According to the statement, KKR said it will look for new partnerships and expand the company’s research and development. 

“We see great potential to grow the EUC Division by empowering this talented team and investing in product innovation, delivering excellence for customers and building strategic partnerships,” KKR managing director Bradley Brown said in a statement.

Following the KKR deal, Broadcom is also looking to sell other parts of VMware‘s business, which it deems non-vital, including its security software company Carbon Black.

VMware was founded in 1998 and agreed to the record-breaking Broadcom merger in May 2022.

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The $61bn deal is the biggest acquisition by any chipmaker, followed by Advanced Micro Devices‘ $31.3bn buyout of Xilinx. 

Hock Tan, Broadcom CEO, confirmed he wanted to turn VMware into the primary go-to for the company’s software operations after purchasing both CA technologies and Symantec Corp’s corporate security business.

Steve Schuchart, principal analyst at research and analysis company GlobalData, previously wrote on Verdict that Broadcom folding its entire software portfolio under the VMware banner “isn’t as reassuring” as it thinks.

“It will introduce distractions for VMware executives and culture integration issues bringing in CA and Symantec,” Schuchart said.