Broadcom Closes its Acquisition of Brocade for $5.5 Billion

While many are still waiting to see Broadcom’s next move in its merger plans with Qualcomm, and whether or not it will up its bid for the company, it has just closed its deal with Brocade Communications Systems Inc.

Broadcom announced on Friday that it has closed its acquisition of Brocade, a network gear maker. The closing of the deal gives Broadcom access to a big share of the data center products market as Brocade makes networking switches, software and storage products.

Broadcom had agreed to buy Brocade last November but only received U.S. antitrust approval this past July for the deal. It was last month that both companies withdrew and re-filed their joint voluntary notice to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to get more time for review and to discuss the proposed acquisition.

Brocade will now operate as a unit of Broadcom and will stop trading on the NASDAQ.

Broadcom recently made an unsolicited $70 a share bid for Qualcomm that was rejected by Qualcomm’s board.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Broadcom Ltd. (NASDAQ: AVGO) and have not been compensated for this article.