Broadcom to move legal headquarters back to US
04 Nov 2017
The semiconductor company Broadcom will move its legal headquarters back to the US from Singapore.
President Trump announced the move yesterday during a press conference in the Oval Office, after he announced a new tax proposal from House Republicans.
Broadcom is a supplier of chips and tech for smartphones, tablets, routers and other products and although it continues to operate from its headquarters in San Jose, California, the company reincorporated in Singapore two years ago for tax reasons, according to The Los Angeles Times.
CEO Hock Tan cited the Republican tax plan as a reason for the move. Besides other changes, the plan would cut the corporate tax rate to 20 per cent from 35 per cent.
"America is once again the best place to lead a business with a global footprint," Tan said.
He added however, that the company would move its headquarters regardless of whether the tax bill passed.
However, according to Matthew Gardner, a fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, there may be several additional reasons for Broadcom to want change its address, CNN Money reported.
Broadcom is in the middle of a $5.5-billion merger with Brocade, a networking company. The deal is yet to be cleared by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which evaluates sales of US businesses to foreign entities to determine the impact on America's national security.
In a press release Broadcom CEO Tan said the company expected the tax plan to "level the playing field for large multinational corporations headquartered in the United States and to allow us to go all in on US. redomiciliation."
The company, formerly known as Avago Technologies Ltd, has in the last few years been the most acquisitive of chipmakers. It came to acquire its name through the $30 billion-plus takeover of US semiconductor company Broadcom in 2016. The combined entity then agreed to the acquisition of Brocade Communications Systems Inc for $5.9
