Qualcomm and Broadcom hold meeting to discuss $121 billion taekover deal

Qualcomm executives remain tight-lipped following meeting with Broadcom over takeover bid

Semiconductor company Qualcomm has remained tight-lipped following its confidential meeting with rival Broadcom to discuss Broadcom's takeover bid.

The meeting has been trailed since Sunday when it was reported by Reuters that the two semiconductor companies would hold high-level talks on Wednesday - a meeting set-up at the invitation of Qualcomm.

It comes after Broadcom upped its offer for Qualcomm from $70 per share to a "best and final" $82 per share - an increase in bid from $130 billion to $145 billion, after factoring in net debt, but with the difference made up from an increase in the Broadcom shares component of the offer, rather than more cash.

Nevertheless, earlier this week Reuters reported that Broadcom had secured a $100 billion loan from a consortium of 12 banks, a financing deal that may help it both raise its "best and final" offer still further or to offer more cash, rather than shares, to secure the deal.

Qualcomm, meanwhile, has turned down both Broadcom's initial offer, as well as its raised offer to buy the company, claiming that it undervalues the potential of its 5G and other mobile technologies.

Both companies opted not to comment on the meeting, with Qualcomm shareholders due to vote on the takeover proposals in early March.

However, Reuters reported that "Broadcom's top executives left the meeting with the impression that their Qualcomm counterparts listened to them but did not engage", according to its unnamed sources.

Qualcomm invited Broadcom executives to the meeting in order to see whether it could address what it called "serious deficiencies in value and certainty in its proposal".

Broadcom has already pledged to address some anti-trust concerns by selling Qualcomm's WiFi networking CPUs and RF front-end chip making businesses, but the behemoth would still end up dominating swathes of the semiconductor industry.

Any deal would not only take some time to wend its way through anti-trust regulators in China, the European Union and the US, but also faces a significant likelihood of outright reject. Broadcom has sought to allay Qualcomm's fears over such an outcome by offering an unconditional $8 billion break-up fee.