Broad/Qual/NXP Battle Begins

Rick Merritt, SiliconValley Bureau Chief, EETimes
11/13/2017 01:01 PM EST

A week after Broadcom made a bold $103 billion bid for Qualcomm, the mobile chip giant rejected it, and Broadcom quickly announced it is standing pat. Now the battle begins in earnest.

It’s not surprising the historically huge bid should be rebuffed. As Hock Tan noted in his offer letter, the two had privately discussed merger possibilities and clearly Qualcomm had not agreed, triggering Tan’s hostile bid.

At the very least, Qualcomm owes it to employees and shareholders to push for a higher price and better terms. That is indeed the big message it sent with its short public statement, offered without comment, that the $70/share offer “dramatically undervalues the company.”

Wall Street liked the move, sending Qualcomm shares up and Broadcom’s down each about a point, Reuters reported.

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