Broadcom will withdraw its Qualcomm bid after US President Donald Trump blocked the transaction via executive order earlier this week.
The Wall Street Journal reports the company is still planning redomicile to the US despite the blocking from the President. The company announced it will redomicile beginning in April, a month earlier than it originally planned.
The Singapore-based company also withdrew its list of directors that were nominated for election to Qualcomm’s board.
The WSJ says half of Broadcom’s employees work in the US.
Broadcom has also pledged to invest US$bn annually in research and engineering and US$6bn in manufacturing.
Trump’s reason for blocking the US$117m deal was “national security risks”. He blocked the deal just hours after speaking with Hock Tan, Broadcom’s CEO at the Pentagon, who was trying to save the deal.
The US Treasury Department (which leads the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US) claims the Broadcom/Qualcomm threatens Qualcomm’s future leadership within the next generation of wireless technology.
The US government is reportedly concerned Broadcomm could cut R&D investment, thereby increasing the likelihood of Asian companies rising to dominant supplier status.
