China Set to Approve Qualcomm Purchase of NXP Semiconductors

By Yoko Kubota in Guiyang and Lingling Wei in Beijing 

Chinese authorities are set to approve Qualcomm Inc.'s planned $44 billion acquisition of Holland's NXP Semiconductors NV in the next few days, people familiar with the matter said, in what would be another significant step toward easing frayed U.S.-China trade relations.

China's State Administration for Market Regulation, which has been conducting the antitrust review, will hold a meeting on the matter Monday, according to the people. They said a contingent of Qualcomm's legal team arrived in Beijing this weekend.

Approval would remove the last hurdle for a deal that has been stuck for months amid U.S.-China trade tensions, but one of the people said it could come with conditions.

The likely approval comes as the Trump administration is battling Congress to roll back penalties on Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE Corp., and as U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross prepares to lead an interagency delegation to Beijing starting June 2, where he is set to meet China's chief economic envoy, Liu He.

--

Yang Jie

contributed to this article.

Write to Yoko Kubota at [e-mail] and Lingling Wei at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 26, 2018 07:32 ET (11:32 GMT)

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