Qualcomm has rejected Broadcom’s $100B+ buyout bid

Earlier this month we learned that rival chip maker, Broadcom, would be making a $130 billion bid for Qualcomm. The deal would merge the two companies, creating the third largest chip maker in the world. However, it seems that Qualcomm is not interested in selling, with reports this week saying that Qualcomm's board of directors has officially rejected the offer.

Previously sources had indicated that Qualcomm would reject the buyout. As reported last week, such a deal would be riddled with regulatory risks and would be held up by government scrutiny. On top of that, Qualcomm shares have dipped a bit since its legal battle with Apple began, so the $130 billion offer, while massive, may not reflect the company's true value. This is particularly true given its vast patent portfolio.

Now, Reuters is reporting that Qualcomm has formally rejected Broadcom's offer. This has led to a slight rise in share value for Qualcomm, and a small dip for Broadcom shareholders. Broadcom isn't quite done with its offer yet though, currently, the company is looking to meet with Qualcomm's board to make another offer.

We will have to wait and see how that pans out. Broadcom could also attempt a hostile takeover at some point by buying up a controlling number of shares, but it hasn't come down to that yet.

KitGuru Says: It looks like Qualcomm is planning to push this off as best as it can for the time being. The amount of money might be huge, but the deal would need to get through a ton of red tape and may not even get regulatory approval, so rejecting the buyout is probably for the best.

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