Communications supplier Broadcom lowered its purchase offer for Qualcomm Wednesday, a day after the chip-maker floated a possible deal with NXP Semiconductors.
Feb. 21 (UPI) — Communications supplier Broadcom on Wednesday lowered its purchase offer for Qualcomm, a day after the chip-maker floated a possible deal with NXP Semiconductors.
California-based Broadcom reaffirmed its commitment to acquiring Qualcomm and said an adjusted offer — of $79 per share — follows the Qualcomm board’s decision to transfer $6.2 billion in value from Qualcomm stockholders to NXP stockholders.
Broadcom’s previous offer was $82 per share.
Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said a Qualcomm-NXP merger would lower the value of the company.
“Broadcom believes that a responsible Qualcomm board could have preserved value by following [proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services’] clear recommendation to work with Broadcom on the NXP transaction and negotiate the sale,” Broadcom said in a statement .
“Instead Qualcomm’s board acted against the best interests of its stockholders by unilaterally transferring excessive value to NXP’s activist stockholders.”
Aside from the purchase price, Broadcom’s proposed merger is unchanged — including $8 million in break-up fees.
Broadcom first began looking at acquiring Qualcomm last year, initially considering a deal worth about $100 billion.
Tuesday, Qualcomm upped its offer for NXP — from $110 to $127 — in a move some saw as a way to gain leverage on Broadcom’s proposal.
