U.S. Asks Qualcomm to Delay Meeting for National Security Review of Broadcom Bid<br />By CHAD BRAYMARCH 5, 2018<br />American regulators have asked the giant chip maker Qualcomm to delay an annual shareholder meeting to give them more time to<br />investigate whether a takeover bid by Broadcom, a Singapore-based rival, would threaten United States national security.<br />Broadcom had sought to pave the way for its hostile bid by changing its headquarters to the United States, an announcement<br />that the chief executive, Hock Tan, made alongside President Trump at the White House last year.<br />Broadcom’s attempted takeover of Qualcomm, initially unveiled in November, would be the largest technology deal<br />in history, creating an industry giant whose products would be in a majority of the world’s smartphones.<br />The surprise move by a government panel that scrutinizes deals by foreign companies comes amid a charged political atmosphere<br />in which scrutiny of takeovers of American companies by international challengers has increased drastically.<br />It has asked Qualcomm to delay the election of directors by 30 days to give it time to “fully investigate”<br />the proposed deal, according to an emailed statement from the Treasury Department.<br />Qualcomm’s leadership fiercely opposes the Broadcom offer, saying it “materially undervalues” the company, and analysts have said for months<br />that even if shareholders approved it, it could be rejected on antitrust grounds<br />The government panel, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, scrutinizes deals for national security concerns.
