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Broadcom moves to the US: CFIUS-inspired redomiciling makes for happy voters

... even though the sound of it to Qualcomm's quite atrocious

Broadcom plans to bring forward its redomiciliation to the US to 3 April in a move that, of course, has nothing to do with Qualcomm's delayed stockholder meeting happening two days later.

In an attempt to head off a potentially painful bit of probing by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the Singapore chipmaker will don a fresh pair of Stars and Stripes to prove it does not present a national security concern.

The firm had previously said it will complete its redomiciliation to US shores by 6 May.

The war of statements between Broadcom and San Diego-based Qualcomm has distracted somewhat from the $117bn takeover deal itself.

Either at the urging of Qualcomm, or just because the thought of all that technology leaving US shores sent a shiver through the US government, CFIUS has taken note.

The result of the attention was a delay to a Qualcomm stockholder meeting where Broadcom hoped the deal would be approved.

Moving back to the US was something Broadcom CEO Hock Tan promised President Donald Trump during an Oval Office meeting on 2 November 2017. While the statement was light on detail, CFIUS was happy enough to let Broadcom chow down on Brocade.

That deal was, of course, an order of magnitude smaller than the snaffling of Qualcomm.

Broadcom insists that it had no plans to complete the acquisition before the redomiciliation was complete, and will hope that setting a date before the Qualcomm stockholder vote will fend off further scrutiny.

With Intel making ominous noises of its own, and Qualcomm likely formulating a pithy retort, the popcorn machine isn't going to be turned off any time soon. ®

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