Broadcom has made a $105B bid to buy fellow chipmaker and Apple supplier Qualcomm. When $25B of net debt is factored in, the deal is effectively worth $130B.
If the bid succeeded, it would not only be the biggest tech acquisition in history, but might also help resolve the long-running dispute between Qualcomm and Apple. Buying Qualcomm would make Broadcom the third-largest chipmaker, behind Intel Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co.
The combined business would instantly become the default provider of a set of components needed to build each of the more than a billion smartphones sold every year. Qualcomm meanwhile is fighting the bid, claiming that Broadcom is trying to buy the company ‘on the cheap’ despite the 28 percent premium.
“This complementary transaction will position the combined company as a global communications leader with an impressive portfolio of technologies and products,” Hock Tan, resident and chief executive officer of Broadcom, said in a statement Monday. “We would not make this offer if we were not confident that our common global customers would embrace the proposed combination.”
