US chip-making giant Qualcomm has rejected a fresh and significantly higher takeover bid from Singapore-based rival Broadcom. It said that even the improved offer considerably undervalued the company.Qualcomm has turned down a record $121-billion (€98.6-billion) hostile bid from computer chip rival Broadcom, but offered to meet with executives of the Singapore-based competitor to debate the recently increased offer.
Qualcomm said in a letter that the latest bid “materially undervalued the company” and did not take into account the possibility of a failure to win regulatory approval. Chairman Paul Jacobs added, though, that he was open for talks to discuss “the significant issues that remain unaddressed” in the offer.
His response came three days after Broadcom boosted its offer to $82 per share in a bid to create a global giant in the chip-making sector. Analysts said the deal would be worth $146 billion, including assumed debt.
Some assets not part of the equation?
Jacobs also noted that the most recent bid again failed to ascribe any value to his company’s plans to roll out new devices for the fifth generation of wireless networks known as 5G.
If completed at a later stage, the takeover would mark the largest deal ever in the tech industry and create a powerful player in the sector fueled by growth in smartphones and a raft of connected devices from cars to wearables.
Broadcom made its original offer on November 6 of last year following a visit by its CEO Hock Tan to the White House where he announced plans to move the tech company back to the United States from Singapore.
hg/aos (AFP, dpa)
