Broadcom's bid to block EU request for US legal papers rejected

The EU General Court dismissed Broadcom Inc.'s attempt to suspend a European Commission demand for documents from the company's U.S. legal advisers. The request was part of an antitrust investigation into Broadcom's 2023 acquisition of VMware, focusing on changes to VMware's cloud service provider program that the trade group CISPE says have limited competition for European cloud providers.

The court ruled that U.S. attorney‑client privilege does not apply to the Commission’s information request, noting that privilege in the EU is limited to communications with external lawyers. By rejecting Broadcom’s arguments, the decision upholds the Commission’s authority to obtain relevant documents for its competition enforcement.

The outcome may influence how multinational tech deals are scrutinised in Europe and could affect market dynamics for cloud services across the region.