Western Digital Secures Antitrust Clearance in Europe for Acquisition of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies

Cleary Gottlieb represented U.S. technology company Western Digital as lead antitrust counsel in Europe on its $4.8 billion acquisition of Hitachi’s hard disk drive (HDD) business, known as Viviti Technologies. The deal was closely monitored by the European Commission who raised regulatory concerns about the 3.5” HDD business, due to a parallel transaction in the HDD sector between Seagate and Samsung. To alleviate the Commission’s concerns, Western Digital will divest certain assets. The deal is still awaiting antitrust approval in the United States and other jurisdictions.