Qualcomm says the move is at the request of CFIUS which has been lobbied by politicians to look at the deal.

Broadcom is in the process of  re-domiciling itself from Singapore to Los Angeles – a move which was announced in the White House with President Trump in attendance – and which, says Broadcom, will make the CFIUS investigation irrelevant. The re-domiciling process is due to be completed in early May.

However the extra 30 days granted to Qualcomm for holding the vote will give Qualcomm valuable time to lobby shareholders to get a positive result.

According to Bloomberg, with half the votes cast, all six Broadcom nominees will be elected.

This is Qualcomm’s statement justifying the move:

“Broadcom Limited’s response to the order from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) is a continuation of its now familiar pattern of deliberately seeking to mislead shareholders and the general public by using rhetoric rather than substance to trivialize and ignore serious regulatory and national security issues. CFIUS is an independent, multi-agency U.S. governmental body charged with protecting U.S. national security. CFIUS has determined that there are national security risks to the United States as a result of and in connection with the transaction proposed by Broadcom.

“Broadcom’s dismissive rhetoric notwithstanding, this is a very serious matter for both Qualcomm and Broadcom. Broadcom’s claims that the CFIUS inquiry was a surprise to them has no basis in fact. Broadcom has been interacting with CFIUS for weeks and made two written submissions to CFIUS.”

“In compliance with the CFIUS order, Qualcomm will delay its Annual Meeting of Stockholders and election of directors for at least 30 days so that CFIUS can fully investigate Broadcom Limited’s proposal to acquire Qualcomm.”