According to recent reports, Broadcom is raising the stakes in its efforts to acquire Qualcomm. They plan to take the wraps off of a new offer worth some $80-82 per share, valuing the proposed deal at $120 billion.
The saga began in November, when Broadcom made a $105 billion bid that was rejected by Qualcomm's board.
Broadcom didn't take rejection well, and nominated its own slate of candidates for Qualcomm's board of directors and promised to take its bid to shareholders. Since then we've been waiting for the next shoe to drop, and apparently it is now time.
The new, larger bid will give them a bit more ammunition for their hostile bid, assuming that Qualcomm doesn't change its mind and return to the negotiating table. In fact, in addition to a higher price, they will be throwing in a higher than normal breakup fee. The actual details of the bid may be still evolving though, so who knows.
Both companies specialize in the chips that make today's mobile devices do what they do, and this can be seen as maneuvering ahead of the arrival of 5G and whatever new things ride along the waves of bandwidth it brings.
This article was authored by Rob Powell and was originally posted on Telecomramblings.com
Rob Powell is founder & editor of Telecom Ramblings, which was set up in 2008. The website is dedicated to discussing trends and developments in the telecom industry.