Tech company Qualcomm has offered to acquire automotive supplier Veoneer at $37 per share in an all-cash transaction, surpassing Magna’s existing offer.
Qualcomm says the offer represents an 18% premium on Magna’s offer and represents ‘strong validation of Qualcomm’s commitment to drive innovation, technology leadership and competition in ADAS for the automotive industry’.
The company said the offer has been approved by Qualcomm’s Board of Directors, does not require Qualcomm stockholder approval, and has no financing conditions.
Qualcomm maintains it is bringing advanced technologies to the automotive industry and the offer for Veoneer represents a natural extension of Qualcomm’s digital chassis solutions. The company continues to see traction in automotive, with a revenue-design win pipeline of approximately $10 billion, it says.
“As the automotive industry continues to transform, it is becoming increasingly important for automakers to have a partner who develops horizontal platforms that drive innovation and enable competition. The proposed acquisition will bring together our industry-leading automotive solutions with Veoneer’s assisted driving assets to deliver a competitive and open ADAS platform to automakers and Tier 1 suppliers at scale,” said Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated.
Qualcomm says it will fund the transaction with existing cash resources, and therefore, its offer is not subject to any financing contingency or condition.
Qualcomm is prepared to immediately commence a focused diligence process, ‘which we anticipate being able to complete in short order’, it said. Qualcomm also said it will agree to the same regulatory provisions as the Magna agreement and ‘expects to provide even greater regulatory-related closing protection following our diligence’.
Qualcomm also said it believes that its offer delivers superior value and deal certainty to Veoneer stockholders.
A letter from Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated to Veoneer’s Board of Directors can be found here