Broadcom plans unsolicited $90B bid for Qualcomm

Broadcom Ltd. (NASDAQ:AVGO) is planning an unsolicited takeover approach to rival chip maker Qualcomm Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter.

Broadcom could launch its bid for Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) as soon as this weekend, the person said.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
QCOM	QUALCOMM INC.	158.53	+2.13	+1.36%
AVGO	BROADCOM INC.	162.08	+2.41	+1.51%

A deal would be enormous, given Qualcomm's current market value of nearly $90 billion. There's no guarantee an approach will be made or that Qualcomm would be receptive. It's even less certain that ultimately there would be such a deal, given potential regulatory and other hurdles.

Should there be a deal between Broadcom and Qualcomm, it's not clear what that would mean for Qualcomm's effort to buy NXP Semiconductors NV, a nearly $40 billion proposed takeover Qualcomm announced over a year ago.

Bloomberg earlier reported that Broadcom was mulling a bid for Qualcomm.

Write to Dana Mattioli at dana.mattioli@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 03, 2017 14:19 ET (18:19 GMT)