Broadcom Ltd is under the FTC radar for antitrust practices

The U.S Federal Trade Commission has made a second request for information on Broadcom Ltd’s $100+ billion hostile bid for Qualcomm Inc, the chipmaker announced in a statement.

This investigation by U.S antitrust officials for probable anticompetitive conduct has been deemed as a normal regulatory process by Broadcom adding that such requests by FTC are common in similar transactions.

The request comes after rival Qualcomm that rejected the offer and had complained that any deal between Qualcomm and Broadcom would face a lengthy, drawn-out review. The current events look to be favoring Qualcomm.

Broadcom along with its partner, Silver Lake Partners is employing a strategy for seeking to take over the entire 11-member board of Qualcomm as part of the deal.

Qualcomm is also making progress in its $38 billion effort to buy NXP. European and South Korean authorities just approved the merger. That leaves persuading China, then NXP's shareholders. This would strengthen Qualcomm's argument that Broadcom's offer is far too low.

Broadcom has managed to become one of the world’s largest chipmakers through a string of acquisitions over the past few years. The expansion has also made it one of the biggest providers of components for smartphones, including Apple Inc.’s iPhone. The company is seeking to extend that reach even further with a hostile bid to purchase Qualcomm Inc., in what would be the biggest technology acquisition in history.