Qualcomm, NXP stocks spike after report that China has cleared acquisition
Chinese regulators have approved Qualcomm Inc.'s acquisition of NXP Semiconductors NV , according to a report from the South China Morning Post, which would knock over the final hurdle to approval for the $44 billion deal. Qualcomm stock gained more than 2% in after-hours trading Thursday after the report was released, while NXP shares rocketed almost 10% higher. The deal has been in the works for nearly two years, but was hampered by Broadcom Inc.'s hostile takeover bid for Qualcomm and became hung up amid trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Qualcomm increased its bid for the chipmaker from $39 billion to $44 billion as Broadcom was making its push to buy Qualcomm. China is the last of nine nations that had to approve the deal, but a regulator previously said that the deal had "issues that are hard to resolve."
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.