In Snarky Press Release, Broadcom Abandons Qualcomm Takeover Bid

Two days after Trump put his foot down, blocking the Singapore-based Broadcom's $142 billion takeover attempt of the biggest US-based chipmaker Qualcomm on national security grounds, Broadcom officially abandoned its pursuit to buy the chipmaker.

Moments ago, Broadcom announced that it has withdrawn and terminated its offer to acquire Qualcomm Incorporated and has withdrawn its slate of independent director nominees for Qualcomm's 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

The move, while expected, brought to an end a long battle between the two companies: “Although we are disappointed with this outcome, Broadcom will comply with the order,” the company said in a statement.

The full, and somewhat bitter, Broadcom press release is below:

Although we are disappointed with this outcome, Broadcom will comply with the Order. 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.

And in a snarky aside, Broadcom also said that it 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."1

And then added the following snippy footnote: "1 Permission to use quotations was neither sought nor obtained."