Broadcom scales back bid for Qualcomm after side deal

Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Communications supplier Broadcom on Wednesday lowered its purchase offer for Qualcomm, a day after the chip-maker floated a possible deal with NXP Semiconductors.

California-based Broadcom reaffirmed its commitment to acquiring Qualcomm and said an adjusted offer -- of $79 per share -- follows the Qualcomm board's decision to transfer $6.2 billion in value from Qualcomm stockholders to NXP stockholders.

Broadcom's previous offer was $82 per share.

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said a Qualcomm-NXP merger would lower the value of the company.

"Broadcom believes that a responsible Qualcomm board could have preserved value by following [proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services'] clear recommendation to work with Broadcom on the NXP transaction and negotiate the sale," Broadcom said in a statement.

"Instead Qualcomm's board acted against the best interests of its stockholders by unilaterally transferring excessive value to NXP's activist stockholders."

Aside from the purchase price, Broadcom's proposed merger is unchanged -- including $8 million in breakup fees.

Broadcom first began looking at acquiring Qualcomm last year, initially considering a deal worth about $100 billion.

Tuesday, Qualcomm upped its offer for NXP -- from $110 to $127 -- in a move some saw as a way to gain leverage on Broadcom's proposal.