The reason for the deal: as the WSJ noted yesterday, "growth has been hard to come by for Broadcom, a 24-year-old company that makes communications chips for tablets and smartphones, and supplies the Internet links for cable-television and telecommunications devices."
As to why Avago is likewise excited to close the deal, "Avago has been likened to health-care companies such as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. that are based in foreign tax jurisdictions and also have become voracious acquirers."
So Broadcom is merely the latest "notch on the bedpost", funded with billions in new debt.
The press release also mentions $750 million "synergies" in the next 18 months which should translate to about 2000-3000 layoffs.
They don't have to lay ANYONE off. That's the beauty. They just conveniently avoid paying any US taxes on a "shitload" (technical term) of income, because they aren't a US company - and Broadcom has avoided repatriating income for precisely this reason.
The press release also mentions $750 million "synergies" in the next 18 months which should translate to about 2000-3000 layoffs.