Reuters Broadcom Inc said on Thursday it will acquire cloud computing company VMware Inc in a 61 billion cashand stock deal, the chipmaker39;s biggest and boldest bid to diversify its business into enterprise software.

The acquisition is the second biggest announced globally so far this year, trailing only Microsoft Corp39;s 68.7 billion deal to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard Inc.

The offer of 142.50 in cash or 0.2520 of a Broadcom share for each VMware stock represents a premium of nearly 49 to the stock39;s last close before talks of the deal were first reported on May 22. Broadcom will also assume 8 billion of VMware39;s net debt.

The chipmaker39;s shares closed up 3.5 and VMware rose 3.1.

Broadcom Chief Executive Hock Tan, who built his company into one of the world39;s biggest chipmakers through acquisitions, is now bringing his dealmaking playbook to the software sector.

In one fell swoop, the deal will almost triple Broadcom39;s softwarerelated revenue to about 45 of its total sales.

Broadcom will instantly be validated as a major software player with the acquisition of VMware, Futurum Research analyst Daniel Newman said.

Having something like VMware … will have a significant number of doors open that their current portfolio probably doesn39;t open for them, Newman added.

The deal comes at a time when there is an increased push by the Biden administration for more competition in all sectors ranging from agriculture to technology.

The Federal…