Qualcomm’s pivotal shareholder meeting is bumped up following Broadcom hostile takeover block

After getting delayed by at least a month or so following a regulatory investigation just days before the meeting was scheduled to take place, Qualcomm’s timetable to hold the meeting is now bumped up to ten days from now — and possibly before Broadcom may complete its move to the U.S.

The new change is coming as part of a presidential order by the Trump administration to block a takeover attempt by Broadcom, which is looking to acquire the company in a hostile maneuver worth over $100 billion — making it the largest tech deal of all time. Qualcomm planned to hold the meeting last week, but had to push it back pending an investigation by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (or CFIUS).

Qualcomm also said in a statement that the order disqualified the nominees from Broadcom for the shareholder meeting, which would have given it the capacity to acquire Qualcomm in a hostile takeover. Broadcom said it planned to move its headquarters to the U.S., and Bloomberg reported that the company said it would have completed its move by April 3 — again, days before the shareholder meeting was to originally take place.

The sum of all these moves — strategic or otherwise — is that, for now, it looks like Qualcomm isn’t going to even give Broadcom a shot at getting the directors on board that could help it complete its hostile takeover. It’s also a setback for Broadcom CEO Hock Tan, known as an aggressive dealmaker that’s looking to lock up the industry in the face of companies like Intel looking to make their moves into the 5G space.

Here’s the full statement from Qualcomm:

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) today received a Presidential Order to immediately and permanently abandon the proposed takeover of Qualcomm by Broadcom Limited (NASDAQ: AVGO).  Under the terms of the Presidential Order, all of Broadcom’s director nominees are also disqualified from standing for election as directors of Qualcomm.

Qualcomm was also ordered to reconvene its 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders on the earliest possible date, which based on the required 10-day notice period, is March 23, 2018.  Stockholders of record on January 8, 2018 will be entitled to vote at the meeting.

In short, the drama continues.

See also: A brief history of the epic battle over the fate of Qualcomm.

Featured Image: Martin H. Simon/Bloomberg via Getty Images via Pool