As the proposed bid for Qualcomm continues to make headlines, Qualcomm has announced that it has discontinued the role of executive chairman and named a new non-executive chairman as it seeks the support of shareholders ahead of a proxy fight with Broadcom now slated for April 5.
Qualcomm also said Tom Horton would continue as its lead director.
Broadcom, which has made a bid of $117 billion for Qualcomm, is now facing an increasingly complex battle that includes: regulatory approvals and worries over China’s influence on global mobile networks as it looks to acquire one of the world’s leading chipmakers.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has ordered a national security review of the takeover.
In a letter to Congress Broadcom has promised to invest $3 billion in research and engineering and $6 billion in manufacturing in the United States annually.
Broadcom spent about $3.3 billion in 2017 on research and development, while Qualcomm’s R&D investment was s$5.5 billion in 2017 and $5.2 billion in 2016.
And in a further twist to an increasingly complex bid it’s been suggested that Intel is looking to buy Broadcom should it succeed in its bid to acquire Qualcomm, as its concerned about the competitive threat posed by a Broadcom-Qualcomm combination.