Qualcomm does not intend to revive NXP takeover deal, despite easing of US-China tensions

President Trump says that China would now be willing to approve Qualcomm's proposed $44 billion takeover of NXP, which fell through in July

There are ‘no plans' to resurrect the failed bid for NXP, chip giant Qualcomm has said, despite comments from Donald Trump suggesting that the Chinese government would now look more favourably on the deal.

Qualcomm announced its intent to acquire its Dutch rival in 2016 and continued the process into this year, at a time when it was also fending off unwanted advances from Broadcom. Acquiring NXP would have almost certainly made the company too large a target for Broadcom to safely buy.

Eight regulators around the world approved the Qualcomm-NXP deal, but Chinese regulators refused to wave it through. According to Bloomberg, China's Ministry of Commerce was concerned about Qualcomm's plans for patent licensing - but it is commonly supposed that the USA's threatened trade war with the country, in part down to a sales ban on ZTE products in the US, was a major factor.

Following several months of negotiation, Qualcomm was forced to drop its bid this July after failing to win the necessary approval.

If it had gone through, the deal would have opened new avenues into the automotive and security markets for Qualcomm.

President Trump, who met with Chinese President Xi Jinping over the weekend, said, "If that deal came back to [Xi], he would most likely approve it quickly, which is a big thing."

However, the Chinese government's official statement, released following the talks, did not mention any discussion of the Qualcomm deal.

A spokesperson for the company said, "Qualcomm considers the matter closed. While we were grateful to learn of President Trump and President Xi's comments about Qualcomm's previously proposed acquisition of NXP, the deadline for that transaction has expired, which terminated the contemplated deal."