NXP up on report Chinese regulators to restart review of Qualcomm bid

Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Microprocessors on a circuit board displayed at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, March 2, 2015.

Shares of NXP Semiconductors jumped about 10 percent Monday on a report that Chinese regulators will restart a review of Qualcomm’s takeover bid for the company.

Bloomberg News, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that China’s Ministry of Commerce has been asked to hasten the deal’s review as well as Qualcomm’s plans to protect local companies. Qualcomm‘s share price gained 2.5 percent on the report.

Qualcomm is proposing to buy NXP for $127.50 a share, or $44 billion. The deal has received approval from eight of nine global regulators. Chinese regulators have said the deal could hurt competition within the chipmaker sector.

The new report is another indication that U.S.-China trade relations appear to be thawing. On Sunday, President Donald Trump said he would help Chinese cellphone maker ZTE “get back into business, fast.” This comes after the U.S. imposed a ban on exports from U.S. companies to ZTE earlier this year.

In a tweet, the president said: “President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast. Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!”

A spokesperson for NXP told CNBC in an email that the company “has a policy to not comment on rumors, speculation or ongoing regulatory matters.” Qualcomm did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Click here to read Bloomberg’s full report.

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