Broadcom offers to scrap exclusivity deals to end EU antitrust probe

BRUSSELS: U.S. chipmaker Broadcom has offered to settle an EU antitrust investigation into its exclusivity deals with TV and modem makers, EU antitrust regulators said on Monday, a move that would stave off a possible hefty fine.

Broadcom, which makes chips to power smartphones, computers and networking equipment and is a major supplier to Apple , found itself in EU competition enforcers’ crosshairs over its deals with six companies to buy chips exclusively or almost exclusively from it.

That triggered an investigation in June last year and an order to stop such deals until the end of the probe on whether such practices were aimed at squeezing out rivals.