Qualcomm unanimously rejects Broadcom

Not in best interest of shareholders

As Fudzilla suspected, Qualcomm’s board of directors has unanimously rejected Broadcom’s offer to acquire it. The board thinks it is not good for shareholders and that it dramatically undervalues Qualcomm.

This is just not how these big acquisitions work, usually, these companies sit together, work for a while and try to negotiate important details and then go to the public. The $ 105 billion bid does sound a lot but bear in mind that Nvidia’s market cap is about $ 130 billion dollars, a product of great stock performance, but honestly, Qualcomm’s portfolio seems broader and shows more potential on the long run.

Nvidia’s spike was based on machine learning and artificial intelligence performance and some automotive promise for the future. Qualcomm has more, including the soon to finish NXP acquisition, a great patent portfolio, high-end phone SoC leadership, Modem and WiFi leadership in 4G and 5G and even automotive, the world’s first 10nm server and Windows 10 holding great Snapdragon potential. These are just some of the things that Broadcom would gain if it was successful with the acquisition.

“It is the Board’s unanimous belief that Broadcom’s proposal significantly undervalues Qualcomm relative to the Company’s leadership position in mobile technology and our future growth prospects,” said Paul Jacobs, Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Qualcomm Incorporated. 

“No company is better positioned in mobile, IoT, automotive, edge computing and networking within the semiconductor industry.  We are confident in our ability to create significant additional value for our stockholders as we continue our growth in these attractive segments and lead the transition to 5G”, said Steve Mollenkopf, Chief Executive Officer of Qualcomm Incorporated.

“The Board and Management are singularly focused on driving value for Qualcomm’s shareholders. After a comprehensive review, conducted in consultation with our financial and legal advisors, the Board has concluded that Broadcom’s proposal dramatically undervalues Qualcomm and comes with significant regulatory uncertainty.  We are highly confident that the strategy Steve and his team are executing on provides far superior value to Qualcomm shareholders than the proposed offer”, said Tom Horton, Presiding Director for Qualcomm Incorporated.