Broadcom prepares for board room battle for Qualcomm

Hostile bid begins

Chipmaker Broadcom will take its first formal step on Monday toward a hostile bid to take over Qualcomm and will unveiling nominees who Qualcomm shareholders can vote on to replace the US semiconductor company’s board of directors.

Broadcom’s move comes after Qualcomm rejected its $ 103 billion cash-and-stock bid last month. Qualcomm shareholders who want the company to engage in sale talks can vote on Broadcom’s board director slate on March 6.

Since the winner of the Broadcom takeover will be Apple, the Tame Apple Press is a big fan of the sale. Broadcom is believed to be more Apple friendly than Qualcomm which has a nasty habit of telling Apple to pay its bills.

For example, Reuters says enthusiastically that Broadcom has lined up nine men and two women as board director nominees, many of whom have considerable experience in the technology sector. Private equity firm Silver Lake, an investor in Broadcom, has helped with the effort to recruit the nominees.

But it seems that Broadcom will not be offering any more money for its takeover bid. It had been considering an improved bid, and will likely present it by March based on the reception its board director slate receives from Qualcomm shareholders.

Broadcom has said regulators may take a year to approve an acquisition of Qualcomm, while Qualcomm has countered that the regulatory review process globally could last much longer and is fraught with risks.

Qualcomm is also trying to close its $ 38 billion acquisition of automotive chipmaker NXP Semiconductors after signing a deal in October 2016. Broadcom has indicated it is willing to acquire Qualcomm irrespective of whether it closes the NXP deal.