BEIJING (Reuters) - China has resumed its review of U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) Inc's proposed $44 billion (32.4 billion pounds) takeover of NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ:NXPI), Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing unidentified sources.
China's commerce ministry has been asked to speed up the review of the deal and Qualcomm's proposed remedies to protect local companies, Bloomberg reported, adding local firms have voiced worries the deal would extend Qualcomm's patent licensing business into areas such as mobile payments and autonomous driving.
It did not say who has asked the ministry to speed up the review, or what Qualcomm has proposed.
Qualcomm refiled its application for the deal in April, giving regulators more time to decide. The commerce ministry later that month said Qualcomm needs to do more to complete the takeover because the U.S. company's initial set of remedies to resolve competition issues were insufficient.
Approval of the deal is not definite and still could be delayed, Bloomberg said, citing the sources.