Qualcomm Ups Bid for NXP in Showdown with Rival Broadcom

“Qualcomm highlighted NXP’s strong performance over 2017, particularly in its automotive and Internet of Things businesses – areas in which Qualcomm has also sought to specialize.”

Qualcomm is a step closer to acquiring NXP Semiconductors with an amended agreement up its purchase price.

The acquisition was first announced in October of 2016, when Qualcomm offered $110 per share in cash, an offer that was approved by both companies’ boards of directors. But Qualcomm faced a challenger last year in Broadcom, a Singapore-based chip maker that first offered to buy NXP for $105 billion in November, and then upped its bid to $121 billion this February. Qualcomm is now fending that off with an offer of $127.50 per share; and the company has secured binding agreements of support from nine NXP stockholders controlling over 28 percent of NXP’s outstanding shares. The threshold of tendered shares required for the deal has also been reduced from 80 percent to 70 percent.

In a statement announcing the revised bid, Qualcomm highlighted NXP’s strong performance over 2017, particularly in its automotive and Internet of Things businesses – areas in which Qualcomm has also sought to specialize. The business activities had the effect of “further enhancing the value proposition of the combined company to its customers and stockholders.” The company asserted that it has also found “annualized cost synergies of at least $500 million” from its in-depth planning for the merger.

The ball is now in the court of the shareholders, with Qualcomm having set a deadline for March 5th, though its previous deadlines have been pushed back as it has awaited final regulatory approval from China’s Ministry of Commerce. Meanwhile, Broadcom has nominated six candidates for Qualcomm’s 11-member board of directors, with a vote set for March 6th.

Source: Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg