Broadcom to Redomicile to U.S. by April 3
Singapore-based Broadcom Ltd said on Monday it expects to redomicile to the United States by April 3, two days before the chipmaker's acquisition target Qualcomm holds its annual shareholder meeting.
Broadcom's $117 billion offer to buy California-based Qualcomm is being reviewed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) for potential national security threats.
Broadcom said such security concerns were not a risk to the closure of the proposed buyout as it never planned to finish the deal before completing moving its official base to the United States.
Broadcom is incorporated in Singapore and co-headquartered there and in San Jose, California.
Broadcom said last week that CFIUS has ordered the company to provide it with five business days notice before taking any action toward moving base to the United States.
CFIUS had delayed Qualcomm's annual meeting by a month to April 5. In that meeting, shareholders will also vote for Broadcom's slate of six nominees for Qualcomm's 11-member board.
U.S. Treasury Department complaint
A complaint sent to Qualcomm and Broadcom by the U.S. Treasury Department complicates Broadcom's unsolicited offer to buy Qualcomm.
The Treasury Department said Broadcom violated an order by not giving sufficient notice to a national security panel of its plans to redomicile in the United States.
Aimen Mir, a top CFIUS official, said that Broadcom "took a series of actions in violation" of a March 5 order from the Treasury which required CFIUS to be notified five business days before taking any action toward moving back to the United States, where Broadcom was originally founded.
The letter said that Broadcom took three such actions without giving proper notice to CFIUS, including working with a Singapore court to speed the process of redomiciling.
Broadcom denied the Treasury's complaint.
"Given Broadcom's public disclosures about the redomiciliation process since last November, as well as its direct communications to CFIUS, Broadcom has been fully transparent with CFIUS about the redomiciliation process, and believes it is in full compliance with the March 4 interim order," the company said in a statement.