The company, however, dismissed the idea.
Qualcomm on Monday rejected a suggestion by the White House that its collapsed US$44 billion acquisition of Dutch peer NXP Semiconductors could be revived, after the White House said that China was "open to approving the previously unapproved" deal "should it again be presented". But, as US and China relations deteriorated, the Chinese government later claimed they would block the deal, and Qualcomm announced that they were abandoning the effort this year.
A victim of tension between the United States and China, Qualcomm and NXP had waited forregulatory approvals for almost two years before Xi's administration let the clock run out.
But in a media statement, Qualcomm said the deadline for the planned transaction has expired, and the company now "considers the matter closed", with no intention of reviving talks.
The acquisition deal between Qualcomm and NXP, worth $ 44 billion, ceased earlier this year because China did not grant timely approval. Qualcomm was given just an hour's notice by the Trump administration about Xi's comment on the NXP deal, and its inclusion in the White House statement, according to two of the sources. The perception was that Broadcom is more concerned with acquisitions than R&D, and any let up could allow Huawei to leapfrog Qualcomm, and thereby the U.S., in 5G.
"Although that acquisition can not be resuscitated, Xi's comment reveals in plain sight that Chinese antitrust policy is inherently politicized", said Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in a blog post. Qualcomm has a large presence in China so they were not left with any real options except to cancel the deal.
Qualcomm has stated publicly that they have moved on from the deal and already paid NXP the $2 billion cancellation fee from their original agreement. Qualcomm used share buybacks of $5 billion to try to maintain its stock price for their shareholders after the deal was cancelled. The bid was the most prominent to fail as a result of trade tensions between China and the US.
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. The massive merger between Qualcomm and NXP have been approving in eight other jurisdictions.