MG Magna International Inc

By Colin Kellaher

Qualcomm Inc. on Thursday said it has offered to buy Veoneer Inc. for $4.6 billion in cash in a bid to upend the safety supplier's deal to be acquired by auto-parts giant Magna International Inc.

The San Diego chip maker's $37-a-share bid represents an 18.4% premium to the $31.25 a share Magna last month agreed to pay for Stockholm-based Veoneer and an 85.6% premium to Veoneer's July 22 closing price of $19.93, before the Magna deal was announced.

But Veoneer shares surged more than 24% to $38.83 in early trading Thursday, an indication that investors think a bidding war may be underway.

A Magna spokeswoman said the Aurora, Ontario, company had no comment on the Qualcomm bid, while Veoneer representatives weren't immediately available for comment.

Magna in July had said its planned acquisition of Veoneer would bolster its position in advanced driver assistance systems, or ADAS, which includes features such as adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance.

Qualcomm on Thursday said the proposed combination of its Snapdragon Ride platform with Veoneer's Arriver sensor perception and drive policy software platform "will enable us to transform the ADAS segment." The companies had previously struck a deal to collaborate on autonomous driving technologies.

Qualcomm said its offer has no financing conditions, noting that it would fund the transaction with existing cash resources. The company said it is ready to begin a focused due-diligence process that it expects to be able to complete in short order.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 05, 2021 10:31 ET (14:31 GMT)

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