Broadcom officially throws in the towel

It was just a matter of time before Broadcom conceded defeat after Trump’s intervention and it decided not to drag things out any more than necessary.

In a short announcement Broadcom essentially said it had done everything the US President had demanded of it when he issued his Executive Order. There really didn’t seem to be any alternative once that decree was made so Broadcom wisely decided to throw in the towel early and get on with its life, pausing only to throw out a fairly tight-lipped parting shot.

‘Although we are disappointed with this outcome, Broadcom will comply with the Order,’ said the Broadcom statement. ‘Broadcom will continue to move forward with its redomiciliation process and will hold its Special Meeting of Stockholders as planned on March 23, 2018.

‘Broadcom’s Board of Directors and management team sincerely appreciate the significant support we received from the Qualcomm and Broadcom stockholders throughout this process.

Broadcom thanks the independent nominees who stood for election to the Qualcomm board, not only for their time and effort but also for their unwavering commitment to act in the best interests of Qualcomm stockholders.

‘Broadcom appreciates the following statement from U.S. Treasury Secretary and CFIUS chair Steven Mnuchin on March 12: “This decision is based on the facts and national security sensitivities related to this particular transaction only and is not intended to make any other statement about Broadcom or its employees, including its thousands of hard working and highly skilled U.S. employees.”’

Clearly Broadcom continues to believe the acquisition would have been in the best interests of Qualcomm shareholders. Even at the reduced $79 per share level that’s still a 32% premium on today’s opening Qualcomm share price, which fell by a few percent after the Trump intervention. It’s probably safe to assume that Broadcom will take great schadenfreude from any grief the Qualcomm board receives from investors in the coming weeks.