Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) has been fighting to keep itself a standalone public company recently. This means that it has fought off all threats to its solidarity, from both external and internal forces. In a shocking move, Qualcomm’s board of directors is throwing out one of its own for exploring the possibility of taking the company private.
The chipmaker announced on Friday that Paul Jacobs would not be renominated to the board of directors at the annual shareholder meeting on March 23. For those that might not know, Jacobs is a longtime Qualcomm executive, having previously served as CEO and executive chair of the board.
However, Qualcomm said that the decision was made after Jacobs informed the board that he was exploring the possibility of taking the $88 billion company private. This is not the first time that Jacobs has come out in favor of taking the company private. In the past he had even approached multiple investors, including the likes of Japan’s SoftBank, looking for funds for an acquisition.
Jacobs believes that this is in the best interest of the company, that Qualcomm will be more apt to pursue real opportunities as a private company. He said in a statement:
These opportunities are challenging as a standalone public company, and there are clear merits to exploring a path to take the company private in order to maximize the company’s long-term performance, deliver superior value to all stockholders, and bolster a critical contributor to American technology.
Currently, Qualcomm has a market cap of roughly $90 billion. And so far in 2018, its stock has underperformed the broad markets, with its shares down 5%, as well as up 4% in the past 52 weeks.
Shares of Qualcomm closed out the week at $60.62, with a consensus analyst price target of $71.03 and a 52-week trading range of $48.92 to $69.28.
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