Prosus cans $4.7 billion BillDesk deal: here are the biggest failed ‘tech-overs’ ever

Just two months after that, Qualcomm itself was forced to walk away from a $44 billion bid to acquire NXP Semiconductors after Chinese regulators blocked the deal. That sum, incidentally, is exactly what Tesla CEO Elon Musk agreed to pay for Twitter in April 2022 before changing his mind, so that odd couple may soon be on this list if Musk wins in court later this month.

Until then, here are the biggest M&A deals ever that fell apart.

Broadcom and Qualcomm: $117 billion (2018)

On November 6, 2017, Broadcom made an unsolicited $103 billion bid to acquire Qualcomm, which rejected the takeover bid the following week, saying the offer – which worked out to $70 a share – undervalued the company and would face regulatory hurdles.

In December, Broadcom made its first formal move toward a hostile takeover of Qualcomm by nominating 11 directors to its rival’s board. But Qualcomm – the world’s biggest smartphone chip maker – rejected the 11 directors, setting the stage for a proxy battle.

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In March 2018, the Federal Trade Commission began an investigation into whether Broadcom engaged in anticompetitive tactics in negotiations with customers, casting further doubts on regulatory approval for potential deals.

By mid-May of that year, the deal was dead in the water after President Donald Trump halted it on concerns that a takeover of Qualcomm by the Singapore-based company would erode the US’s lead in mobile technology and give China the upper hand.

Qualcomm and NXP Semiconductors: $44 billion (2018)


In July 2018, Qualcomm itself became a high-profile victim of a bitter China-US trade spat when it paid a $2 billion breakup fee to walk away from a
$44 billion deal to buy NXP Semiconductors after failing to secure approval from Chinese regulators. The deal would have been the biggest semiconductor takeover globally after Broadcom’s attempt to acquire Qualcomm fell through earlier that year.

The Qualcomm-NXP deal was announced in October 2016, just days before Trump was elected US President, and was awaiting Chinese approval even as a trade dispute between the US and China intensified.

The Trump administration played an outsized role in Qualcomm’s fate and there had been expectations that the lifting of a ban on US chipmakers doing business with China’s ZTE Corp would clear the way for the NXP deal, Reuters reported at the time.

Zoom and Five9: $14.7 billion (2021)

In late September 2021, Five9 shareholders voted down the call centre software firm’s $14.7 billion sale to Zoom Video Communications, dealing a major blow to Zoom’s plan to expand its offerings following its pandemic boom.

The deal, which would have been the company’s biggest acquisition ever, was terminated after proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis recommended earlier that month that Five9 shareholders vote against the deal, citing growth concerns and dual-class shares.

Under the terms of the deal, announced in July, Five9 shareholders would have received 0.5533 Zoom share for every Five9 share. The terms implied a 12.8% premium over Five9’s market price and valued the company at $14.7 billion.

KLA-Tencor and Lam Research: $10.6 billion (2016)

In October 2016, semiconductor equipment maker Lam Research called off its $10.6 billion deal to buy rival KLA-Tencor after the US Department of Justice told the companies it had serious concerns that the deal would harm competition.

Lam Research had agreed to buy KLA-Tencor for $67.02 per share in 2015 amid a wave of consolidation in the chip industry. Together, the companies would have commanded a 42% share of the wafer fabrication equipment market, Reuters reported.

But US government agencies were wary that a further drop in the number of chip suppliers would drive up prices and curb innovation.