Broadcom offers to acquire Qualcomm for $103 billion

We reported a couple of days ago that Broadcom may be looking to buy Qualcomm for $100. That report came out to be true and Broadcom has actually offered to acquire Qualcomm for $103 billion. If the deal happens, it would be the biggest technology acquisition ever.

The offer that Broadcom made is at $70 per share which is $28% premium than the actual Qualcomm’s stock price. $60 per stock will be paid in cash and remaining $10 will be paid in stocks. If the deal is successful, the combination of two companies will make it world’s 3rd largest chipmaker company after Samsung and Intel. Broadcom itself was acquired by a Singapore-based company called Avago Technologies in 2014. The deal was done in $37 billion at that time. Avago and Broadcom them named themselves to a single company called Broadcom technologies.

Qualcomm is already facing multiple legal battles with Apple. And the legal difficulties resulted in the 90% drops in profit. Here’s what Qualcomm had to say after the huge loss:

“The reason that we’re pursuing this is that Qualcomm‘s trying to charge Apple a percentage of the total iPhone value, and they do some really great work around standards-essential patents, but it’s one small part of what an iPhone is.”

Moreover, Qualcomm has been a regular modem supplier for Apple devices but now after the legal battle, Apple is planning to ditch Qualcomm and will no longer use its chips in its upcoming devices. It will use Intel and MediaTek devices instead. The decision will affect negatively on Qualcomm as a huge amount of its revenue came with the sale of Apple devices.

Despite all these ongoing battles, Broadcom still made an offer to Qualcomm and aimed to be the world’s 3rd largest chipset maker. Here’s what Broadcom had to say on this:

“Broadcom’s proposal is compelling for stockholders and stakeholders in both companies. Our proposal provides Qualcomm stockholders with a substantial and immediate premium in cash for their shares, as well as the opportunity to participate in the upside potential of the combined company. This complementary transaction will position the combined company as a global communications leader with an impressive portfolio of technologies and products. We would not make this offer if we were not confident that our common global customers would embrace the proposed combination.”