Yesterday, Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf said that Qualcomm is still waiting for China to approve its acquisition of NXP Semiconductors. If it is not approved by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce before July 25, then the deal will be abandoned.
In October 2016, Qualcomm announced the acquisition of NXP Semiconductors for approximately US$38 billion, approximately US$110 per share. Later, as NXP Semiconductors' share price rose, Qualcomm raised its offer to $127.50 per share in February this year, the total deal is about $44 billion.
To complete the transaction, the acquisition needs to be approved by nine national regulatory authorities around the world. So far, Qualcomm has obtained approval from eight of them, the last one is Chinese Ministry of Commerce. In order to wait for the review of the Ministry of Commerce of China, Qualcomm has extended the validity period of the transaction several times.
Mollenkopf expressed the hope that the transaction can be completed. Because according to the agreement, Qualcomm needs to pay NXP Semiconductors a $2 billion cancellation fee if it is not approved by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. Moronkopf said that if the acquisition of NXP Semiconductors failed, Qualcomm plans to buy back $20 billion to $30 billion shares.
