Broadcom Advances Headquarters Move From Singapore to U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- Broadcom Ltd., the Singapore-based chipmaker, said it expects to complete its move to the U.S. by April 3, two days before a shareholder vote at Qualcomm Inc., the target of its $117 billion hostile takeover bid.

The company originally planned to complete redomiciliation by May 6, but has sped up the process to try to avoid a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. of its offer for San Diego-based Qualcomm on national security concerns.

Last week CFIUS ordered Qualcomm to suspend its shareholder meeting by 30 days pending the investigation. At the meeting, Qualcomm shareholders are scheduled to vote for six nominees put forth by Broadcom that could give it majority control and increase the likelihood that the takeover goes through. While a new vote has been scheduled for April 5, a review by CFIUS is likely to take longer. Early indications showed that Qualcomm was on course to lose majority control of its board to Broadcom, according to information obtained by Bloomberg.

“Broadcom’s proposal to acquire Qualcomm has always been premised on the completion of Broadcom’s previously announced plan to redomicile,” Broadcom said in a statement Monday. “In short, U.S. national security concerns are not a risk to closing, as Broadcom never plans to acquire Qualcomm before it completes redomiciliation.”

Broadcom’s plan to relocate to the U.S. has been in the works for a long time. Chief Executive Officer Hock Tan stood next to U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House last November when he announced a move to the U.S. from Singapore.

To contact the reporter on this story: Molly Schuetz in New York at mschuetz9@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Anne Riley Moffat, Molly Schuetz

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