Broadcom has made a $105B bid to buy fellow chipmaker and Apple supplier Qualcomm. When $25B of net debt is factored in, the deal is effectively worth $130B.
If the bid succeeded, it would not only be the biggest tech acquisition in history, but might also help resolve the long-running dispute between Qualcomm and Apple …
Bloomberg reports that the deal would dwarf the previous record-holder: Dell’s $67 billion acquisition of EMC in 2015.
Qualcomm is fighting the bid, claiming that Broadcom is trying to buy the company ‘on the cheap’ despite the 28% premium.
Buying Qualcomm would make Broadcom the third-largest chipmaker, behind Intel Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. The combined business would instantly become the default provider of a set of components needed to build each of the more than a billion smartphones sold every year.
One analyst believes that the deal would help resolve the fierce legal battle with Apple.
There is, though, one potential deal-breaker: it’s by no means certain that a takeover would get regulatory approval.
In the latest jab in the fight between Qualcomm and Apple, the chipmaker filed another lawsuit against the iPhone maker, accusing it of breaking a confidentiality clause in the contract.
