The move would combine two of the largest makers of wireless communications chips for mobile phones and could pose a significant competitive threat to Intel, which has been looking to diversify into smartphone technology.
While the value of the proposed bid has yet to be made public it is expected that the offer will be in the range of around $70 to $80 per share, valuing Qualcomm at over $100billion.
According to sources Qualcomm is not aware of the details of Broadcom’s bid and the company has yet to make any comment.
“It’s a smart move that would make Broadcom into a tech juggernaut,” said GBH Insights analyst Daniel Ives.
The bid comes as Broadcom plans to move its headquarters to the United States from Singapore. It is currently incorporated in Singapore and co-headquartered there and in San Jose, California.
Qualcomm is currently trying to close its pending $38-billion acquisition of NXP Semiconductors, a leading supplier of chips for vehicles that is also expanding into self-driving technology, and it is believed that Broadcom is open to acquiring NXP.
Any deal between Broadcom and Qualcomm would have to be approved by Antitrust officials, who are still considering Qualcomm’s purchase of NXP.
Qualcomm and Broadcom have patent portfolios in wireless communications that are largely adjacent to each other, and antitrust concerns over any proposed deal could be muted because the companies have few areas of overlap beyond Wi-Fi solutions for wireless routers, Bluetooth drivers and some RF semiconductors.
