The past 18 months has seen chip designer ARM being acquired by Softbank for US$31-billion, but it looks like another colossal silicon deal is in the works. Yes, it seems like Broadcom is expected to make a huge offer for Qualcomm.
According to Reuters, citing three sources “familiar with the matter”, Broadcom is set to announce a US$100-billion offer to buy the chip maker on Monday.
No ad to show here.
The publication says that, if successful, the deal would be the biggest tech acquisition ever and would deliver a company with a market cap of roughly $200-billion. Still, a source said it’s “far from certain” whether Qualcomm would actually approve the deal.
The US chipmaker has been busy on the acquisition front too, being in the process of completing a US$47-billion takeover of NXP.
Qualcomm is one of the biggest players in the mobile tech market, supplying chips to the likes of Samsung, Sony, HTC, LG, Xiaomi and a ton of other players.
The company also supplies cellular modems used in the iPhone. In fact, Apple and Qualcomm have been embroiled in a legal battle recently, with reports that Apple could move away from Qualcomm modems to Intel as the sole supplier.
We’ve contacted Qualcomm’s representatives and will update the story if/when we receive a response.
