Nvidia could be one step closer to acquiring Mellanox. Reuters reported yesterday that the $6.9 billion deal, which the companies announced in March, is set to receive unconditional approval from the European Commission as early as today.
Mellanox is best known for making interconnect equipment for data centers. Nvidia and Intel were said to have engaged in a bidding war earlier this year to determine which one would acquire the company--Nvidia's offer of $6.9 billion in cash won.
Winning the bidding war didn't mean Nvidia's acquisition of Mellanox was guaranteed, however, because the deal was subject to approval by global regulators. It was approved in the U.S. earlier this year; now it's set to be approved in the EU.
That leaves one major regulatory hurdle: China. Bloomberg reported in March that analysts and shareholders feared that Chinese regulators wouldn't approve Nvidia's acquisition of Mellanox for fear of the combined entity having too much influence.
Reuters said the European Commission is supposed to make a decision regarding the Nvidia-Mellanox deal by December 19, which is today, but at time of writing the commission hasn't published anything related to the deal on its official website.
Nvidia plans to use the Mellanox acquisition to reduce its dependence on the gaming market, which has declined in recent years, and better compete in the data center. It's not clear when China plans to reveal whether or not it will approve the deal.
