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Report: Qualcomm’s former chairman is seeking to buy out the company
Days after emerging from a $121 billion hostile takeover battle with Broadcom Ltd. that was shut down by a presidential executive order, Qualcomm Inc. may have face off against another would-be buyer: its former executive chairman.
According to reports, Paul Jacobs, who is the son of Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs, resigned from the position last week but still retains a board seat. Sources familiar with the matter told CNBC today that he has informed the other directors in writing of his intention to take the chipmaker private.
The update comes after the Financial Times on Thursday cited three sources as saying that Jacobs has approached investors to seek funding for the move. According to the publication, one of potential backers is SoftBank Corp., which regularly makes big-ticket technology bets via its $100 billion Vision Fund. Among its most notable moves was the purchase of a minority stake in Uber Technologies Inc. for about $10 billion late last year.
Yet acquiring Qualcomm would be expensive even by SoftBank’s standards. In February, the chipmaker rejected Broadcom’s $121 billion bid after its board deemed the offer too low. And there are other potential hurdles as well.
Singapore-based Broadcom’s takeover bid was shut down after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States raised concerns about transferring control of Qualcomm to a foreign company. SoftBank, which is headquartered in Japan, would probably face similar issues if it were to back Paul Jacobs’ bid. There’s also the fact that Qualcomm has contributed capital to the company’s Vision Fund and would likely get a say in the matter.
One of the sources who spoke with CNBC indicated that the chipmaker’s board is not overly enthusiastic about the prospect of another buyout bid. The company also has other items on its plate, namely a patent dispute with Apple Inc. and the long-delayed effort to acquire rival NXP Semiconductor NV. Qualcomm today extended the deadline of the $44 billion deal by another week after its bid failed to receive approval by the previous target date.
Photo: Maurizio Pesce/Wikimedia Commons
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