Chipmaker Broadcom in talks to buy cloud computing company VMware

• Cash-and-stock deal could be announced as soon as Thursday 

• Deal value is expected to be more than VMware’s $40-billion market cap as of Friday’s market close

Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO) is planning to acquire Michael Dell-backed cloud service provider VMware Inc (NYSE: VMW), which could transform the chipmaker into a diversified tech firm, Reuters reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Although the deal term is not known, it is expected that the deal value will be above VMware’s $40.3-billion market cap as of Friday’s market close.