Qualcomm said on Monday that it is considering the prospect of buying chip rival NXP as closed. The agreement between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had made it further for China to approve the deal for Qualcomm to acquire NXP Semiconductors after Chinese regulators prevented the transaction earlier this year. The company, however, dismissed the idea.
The company in an email stated that “While we were grateful to learn of President Trump and President Xi’s comments about Qualcomm’s previously proposed acquisition of NXP, the deadline for that transaction has expired, which terminated the contemplated deal”.
Qualcomm had formally abandoned the $44 billion deal in late July after the deadline passed while Chinese regulators remained silent, leaving the chip giant with a $2 billion termination fee. Approval was conducted for nearly two years as the tense in the United States and China increased, and it was not approved by the Chinese authorities.
In a research note, Morgan Stanley analysts pointed out that “a lot has changed” since Qualcomm’s initial bid. While the semiconductor industry was in the midst of an up cycle at that time, the industry is now in a correction, they wrote.
This provides us hint that NXP’s board “could be open to the idea” of an acquisition if they are presented with another offer from Qualcomm, the analysts said.
