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Broadcom is set to take its first formal step towards a ‘hostile bid’ to takeover Qualcomm, according to Reuters. According to the report Broadcom is set to unveil nominees whom Qualcomm shareholders can vote on to replace the U.S. semiconductor company’s board of directors, according to people familiar with the matter.
The move comes after Qualcomm rejected its $103 billion takeover bid last month. Qualcomm shareholders who want the company to engage in sale talks will be able to vote on Broadcom’s board director slate on March 6, suggesting that a secondary formal offer will come in the Spring 2018.
Broadcom has lined up nine men and two women as board director nominees, many of whom have considerable experience in the technology sector, Reuters reported.
Qualcomm has a lot on its plate at the moment. As well as trying to tie up a record $38 billion acquisition of its own – for NXP Semiconductors – the US chipmaker has also poured fire on to the flames of its patent disagreement with Apple. Launching not one, not two, but three lawsuits, the chipmaker is attempting to get Apple’s iPhone X banned for copyright infringements.
Filing three new patent infringement complaints against Apple, Qualcomm claims that there are 16 more of its patents that Apple is using in its iPhones
Apple and Qualcomm have been embroiled in an ongoing legal battle following Apple’s decision to sue Qualcomm in January for charging unfair royalties and refusing to pay quarterly rebates. Exchanging jabs ever since, the most recent was landed by Qualcomm who filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple and requested an import ban on certain iPhone models.
Embattled Qualcomm is also facing a daily fine of €580,000 for withholding information from EU antitrust regulators. Losing its appeal against the penalty in a EU court, the US chipmaker now must hand over the documents demanded by the antitrust regulators or face racking up an enormous fine.
