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08:28, 28-May-2018
Qualcomm 'close' to China approval on NXP deal: sources
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Qualcomm officials are reported to be cautiously optimistic that authorities in China will approve their acquisition of NXP Semiconductors NV that has been valued at 44 billion US dollars.
The American multinational semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company is expecting to meet this week in Beijing with China’s antitrust regulators in a final push to secure clearance for the deal, Reuters quoted three sources as saying.
The acquisition of the Dutch global semiconductor manufacturer has been caught in the crosshairs of the US-China trade tensions.
The deal has got a nod from eight of the nine required global regulators, with Chinese clearance the only one pending.
Qualcomm is likely to meet Chinese regulators before US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross arrives in China on Saturday, the sources were reported to have said.
They said a Qualcomm team and officials from the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) met in Beijing on Friday and had “productive” talks.
The San Diego-based firm is now “cautiously optimistic” the deal will go forward, one of the sources said.
On Friday, the Trump administration said it had reached a deal that would put ZTE Corp back in business after the Chinese telecommunications company pays a 1.3-billion-dollar fine and makes management changes.
The firm was banned in April from buying US technology components for seven years for alleged violation of US sanctions against Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
“It feels as though it’s getting close to the end,” said the source quoted above.
New submission
Qualcomm is now preparing a new submission to SAMR aimed at providing final guarantees and assurances, the sources said.
Qualcomm in recent weeks has moved to restart discussions that have stalled since the end of last year.
Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm’s president, was in China last week, attending a big data industry expo in the southwest province of Guizhou.
Earlier this month, China’s anti-trust regulator approved Qualcomm’s investment with a unit of state-owned Datang Telecom Technology Co. to design, package and test smartphone chipsets, one year after the joint venture was announced.
Source(s): Reuters