Apple suppliers Qualcomm & Broadcom to meet directly to talk $121B acquisition deal

Broadcom had wanted a meeting to take place this weekend, but agreed to meet on Wednesday instead, Reuters sources said on Monday. The company appears to have taken up a Qualcomm negotiation offer made last Thursday.

Qualcomm had complained about "serious deficiencies in value and certainty" in Broadcom's bid, despite a boost from $70 to $82 per share and other proposed concessions — including an $8 billion payout if antitrust regulators quash an acquisition as too big. Both Broadcom and Qualcomm are major players in wireless mobile chips, and a combined entity might be almost unstoppable by smaller rivals.

Broadcom is meanwhile continuing its attempt to persuade Qualcomm shareholders to elect a takeover-friendly board of directors.

Any deal will have major ramifications for Apple, which not only counts on the two companies for parts but is engaged in a worldwide legal battle with Qualcomm. In fact Apple may be shoving Qualcomm chips out of 2018 iPhones in favor of Intel.