Qualcomm recently announced that it will extend the deadline for the cash offer of NXP Semiconductors to wait for regulatory approval. The offer was originally scheduled to expire at 5 pm U.S. local time on June 15, but it has now been extended to 5 pm U.S. local time on June 22. For this acquisition, Qualcomm has repeatedly extended the offer period for several times.
Qualcomm’s acquisition of NXP for US$44 billion is a key step for Qualcomm’s diversification strategy beyond the saturated smartphone market. According to the regulations, the merger and acquisition case must be approved by the regulatory agencies of nine countries to achieve, and China is the last one of these nine countries. At present, Chinese regulatory authorities have not approved Qualcomm’s acquisition of NXP Semiconductors’ M&A deal. As the approval time coincides with China-US trade friction, this makes the approval process of the merger case more dramatic.
Qualcomm issued a tender offer for NXP Semiconductors in October 2016. NXP is one of the world's largest automotive electronics equipment manufacturers. If successful, this acquisition will be one of the largest deals in the history of the semiconductor industry.
