US chipmaker Qualcomm has confirmed that its $47bn takeover bid for NXP has been approved by the antitrust regulators in the EU and Korea.
The company has now secured eight out of nine regulatory approvals that they need in order to complete the deal, with just Chinese regulators left to approve the sale.
Qualcomm moved that bit closer to buying NXP after authorities in Brussels and Seoul cleared the $47bn deal the chipmaker had proposed.
The chipmaker wants to take over NXP, the payments and automotive technology company, in order to strengthen its position in the market.
Prior to the deal being approved by the EU Commissions office and the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), officials raised some concerns over the takeover bid. These included increases in price, reducing customer choice and hindering innovation in the industry.
In light of the concerns, Qualcomm made three commitments to the regulators. These included not buying NXP’s patents for products such as contactless payments.
The chipmaker also committed to providing the same level of interoperability between its hardware and other companies within a eight-year time frame. The final condition for Qualcomm to carry out was to ensure that its smartphone technology works consistently with NXP products and those from rivals for the same period of time.
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Qualcomm welcomed the decision from both the EU and Korea, bringing it one step closer to finalising the takeover of NXP.
“We are pleased that both the European Commission and the Korean Fair Trade Commission have granted authorization of the NXP acquisition, and we are optimistic that China will expeditiously grant its clearance,” said Steve Mollenkopf, Chief Executive Officer, Qualcomm Incorporated.
“Acquiring NXP is complementary to Qualcomm’s global portfolio, providing tremendous scale in automotive, IoT, security and networking and will greatly accelerate our ability to execute and create value in new and adjacent opportunities.”
Other jurisdictions that have approved the takeover deal include the US, Mexico, Russia, the Philippines and Europe. The last outstanding regulator holding back Qualcomm is Beijing, which the chipmaker hopes to get the green light from soon.
