Qualcomm talking to FTC, worried about mobile WiFi, sources say
13 February 2018 - 12:00 am UTC
Qualcomm [NASDAQ:QCOM] is complying with the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) second request on rival Broadcom’s [NASDAQ:AVGO] attempted hostile bid, said two sources familiar with the matter.
At this stage in a normal second request review, companies tend to produce high-level ordinary course documents that tell a general story of how they compete, said the first source. Staff at the FTC’s Mergers II section are reviewing Broadcom’s USD 121bn hostile bid and have contacted and met with attorneys for Qualcomm, the second source said.
Qualcomm has so far rebuffed Broadcom’s hostile bid launched last year as undervaluing the semiconductor company and raising severe regulatory risks. Broadcom, a fabless semiconductor company domiciled in Singapore with US headquarters in San Jose, has said it is prepared to make select divestitures to address potentially problematic overlaps.
The two companies are scheduled to meet this week to discuss the offer.
Both sources disputed Broadcom’s claims that all of the horizontal overlaps posed by the merger can be readily resolved by divestiture. One of the sources said the companies are fiercely competitive in the mobile device WiFi segment, an area Broadcom has not proposed it will sell any assets.
Qualcomm declined to comment and Broadcom did not return a request for comment.
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