Broadcom has made a take it or leave it offer for Qualcomm, offering cash and shares in a deal worth around $146 billion.
It said the offer, which amounts to $60 in cash and the remainder in Broadcom shares per Qualcomm share, represents a 50 percent premium on the American company’s stock market valuation in November when its first bid, worth $130 billion, was made.
Qualcomm said in a statement that its Board of Directors would consider the offer but will not comment further on the bid until it has been reviewed.
Broadcom said the deal would not be reliant on Qualcomm’s protracted attempts to buy semiconductor company NXP.
While the boards of both Qualcomm and NXP approved that deal in late 2016, some shareholders have been holding out for more money before the takeover is completed. Qualcomm is currently offering $110 per NXP share.
In a letter to Qualcomm’s board, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said: “Our proposal includes substantially more Broadcom stock, which will allow Qualcomm stockholders a greater opportunity to participate in the upside created by the combined company’s strategic and operational advantages.”
If the deal is accepted, Qualcomm Chairman Paul Jacobs would be invited to sit on the Broadcom board in addition to one other Qualcomm director.
Tan said he would pull the deal off the table if it has not been accepted by Qualcomm’s annual general meeting on 6 March.
Qualcomm had previously attacked Broadcom for making an “opportunistic, inferior” bid that undervalues the company. It also claimed the bid would take at least 18 months to complete because of regulatory issues it would face.
Broadcom responded today (5 February) by claiming the deal would be completed within 12 months. It offered to make a “reverse termination fee” if regulation torpedoed the deal and would also offer more money to Qualcomm shareholders if the takeover process broke through its one year deadline.