Broadcom Completes Headquarters Move From Singapore to the U.S.

(The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS) —

Broadcom has completed the relocation of its corporate headquarters from Singapore to the United States following its failed hostile takeover of San Diego’s Qualcomm.

The communications chip maker said Wednesday that it’s now based in San Jose and incorporated in Delaware. The company’s shareholders authorized the move on March 23. It was approved by the Singapore High Court on Monday.

“The completion of our re-domiciliation to the United States marks an important milestone in our company’s history as Broadcom has been an American company in every respect other than our legal domicile,” said Chief Executive Hock Tan in a statement. “We believe that America is once again the best place for Broadcom to do business.”

Broadcom’s Singapore location played a key role in the collapse of its $117 billion attempt to acquire Qualcomm.

In November, Tan announced his intention to move the company’s headquarters to the United States in a White House ceremony. It was touted as an example of corporate tax reform luring companies back to the United States.

But just a few days later, Broadcom launched its takeover bid for Qualcomm.

The San Diego cellular giant repeatedly rejected Broadcom’s overtures as undervaluing its growth prospects, particularly from upcoming 5G networks.

Broadcom counter-punched by nominating six alternative candidates to Qualcomm’s board of directors to push the deal through. It was well on its way to winning at least some of those board seats, based on preliminary ballots from shareholders frustrated with Qualcomm’s financial performance.

Because Broadcom was technically a foreign-based company, Qualcomm took the unusual step in late January of asking the secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to review the hostile takeover.

CFIUS examines potential national security threats from foreign investment in U.S. companies. It began a probe of the Broadcom-Qualcomm takeover in early March.

Broadcom attempted to speed up its headquarters move – which could have eliminated CFIUS’s jurisdiction.

Citing Broadcom’s accelerated relocation efforts and other concerns, CFIUS recommended that President Trump block the deal. Trump signed an executive order derailing the deal on March 12.

Broadcom, which was already being managed out of San Jose, said it doesn’t expect the headquarters move to affect employees or day-to-day operations.

More than half of Broadcom’s 15,600 global workforce is based in the United States. The company has branch offices across the country, including in San Diego and Irvine.

“With over 8,300 employees across more than 35 states, Broadcom will invest $3 billion annually in research and engineering and $6 billion annually in manufacturing, and we expect that we will pay several hundred million in additional taxes to the U.S.,” said Tan.

The headquarters move could make it easier for Broadcom to pursue other acquisitions, according to Wall Street analysts. The company has grown through a string of buyouts, especially in the past five years.

“We believe Broadcom can continue to find reasonable merger and acquisition targets,” said Stacy Rasgon of Bernstein Research in a report. “We believe Qualcomm is likely a special case; most potential acquisitions should not create national security concerns, especially after the re-domiciling.”

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