The European Commission has given the green light for the takeover of Eindhoven-based chips maker NXP by its larger US peer Qualcomm.

If NXP shareholders can be persuaded to sell their shares, the transaction will be one of the largest-ever in the Netherlands, the Financieele Dagblad reported. The deal was priced at €43bn when it first went public in 2016.

NXP has a worldwide payroll of 33,000, of whom 2,500 are located in the Netherlands in units at Eindhoven and Nijmegen.

Qualcomm first brought out a bid for NXP in October 2016, but the deal had to be approved by various international regulators and the European Commission ruled last June that a thorough investigation was needed.

It feared a merger of the two tech giants would lead to higher prices and weakened  market forces in the global chips market.

Philips

Both NXP and Qualcomm have developed important innovative technologies used in mobile phones. NXP was part of Dutch electronics giant Philips until 2006.

‘”We use our smartphones for many different things and now also more and more as mobile wallets, to pay for public transport or make other secure payments,’ European commissioner Margrethe Vestager said.

‘With this decision, we ensure that Qualcomm’s takeover of NXP will not prevent consumers from continuing to enjoy the benefits of these innovative technologies at competitive prices.’