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More developments this morning in the drama of Broadcom's (AVGO) hostile bid for Qualcomm (QCOM), as Broadcom CEO Hock Tan took to the airwaves to make his case in advance of a meeting between the two sides this Wednesday.

Tan appeared around 9:30, Eastern, on CNBC’s Squawk Box with David Faber and Jim Cramer.

Tan’s insistent line on the show was “we have a compelling offer,” while he declined to disclose what if anything he might do to sweeten the offer beyond a revised bid he put out a week ago, and which he today reiterated is his “best and final offer."

In his open remarks, Tan said “we have gone to shareholders, lot of Qualcomm’s most significant shareholders, and it’s overwhelming, in fact, that they want to see their board engage with us."

"Any responsible board would make it a priority to engage with us,” he added, saying he is "very encouraged by our proposed meeting this Wednesday."

Faber noted in his own conversations with Qualcomm investors, there is a "continued concern on anti-trust” regulatory matters. He asked why Tan would not "give those shareholders even more assurances, not just the break-up fee, but hell or high water,” referring to the notion Broadcom should spell out every single potential change it would make to satisfy regulators.

As explained by Greg Roumeliotis of Reutersyesterday, Broadcom has pledged a willingness to sell two businesses of Qualcomm’s, those pertaining to WiFi and Bluetooth chips in mobile devices, and the so-called “RF Front End” parts, but that is not enough for some who claim the need for “hell or high water” provisions.

Tan responded by saying "What we have in place is a very serious offer, it is."

"Let me start off by putting it in perspective. The other side, there’s been lots of messaging from them,” a surprising statement given the bounty of messaging from Broadcom since its first bid, on November 6th.

Qualcomm, he says, has been “heavy on rhetoric, very short on specifics."

Said Tan, "We studied everything. The two companies are highly complimentary. Our core businesses do not compete. That’s a clear path to regulatory approval, and we have the track record."

Faber replied, "If you believe there is a clear path, why not take it all on?"

To which Tan said, "We are already taking on most of the risk. We have identified the two areas of overlap. We have made the best efforts to clear what is fairly routine, that’s why we say low regulatory risk."

He said Broadcom is "putting the money where the mouth is,” by offering an $8 billion break-up fee, adding “I’m a pretty frugal guy; you think I’d put up $8 billion if I thought there was any chance it would happen?” meaning, the deal being rejected.

Cramer pressed Tan on the matter of San Diego losing one of its top companies, noting that Qualcomm is an important part of the community there and that there could be real costs to it if Qualcomm goes away as a force in the area.

Said Tan, “The only real question, I'd like to add, simply this, to paraphrase a famous president, are Qualcomm shareholders better off today than they were four years ago?"

“No, they are 11% poorer,” he said. "Broadcom shareholders are 500% richer. We are very good at building sustainable businesses, and employment in what we acquire."

Cramer noted the $50 drop in Broadcom stock from the time the deal was announced. "At what point are your holders hurt?” he asked.

Said Tan, "We believe we have a lot of support from Broadcom shareholders for simply this reason, we have a lot of track record of creating this kind of lot of value — that’s really what we believe in."

Faber noted both Qualcomm and Broadcom will appear before Institutional Shareholder Services before the meeting on Wednesday. "Your say $82, they say $90,” he said of ISS.

"This is best and final,” Tan said. “We have a compelling offer. We would urge the [Qualcomm] board to take a hard look at the value we are creating. $60 is a 50% premium from before we came out with the offer,” referring to the cash component of the bid. “That’s cash, we give certainty in this uncertain market."

Faber pressed Tan on “what conceivably will you offer to try and change this dynamic?”

To which Tan replied, "it remains really our best and final offer, we would urge if they don’t do that, on March 6th, we get a board who will negotiate and protect value for shareholders,” referring to Broadcom’s proposal that shareholders vote a brand new slate of directors to replace all of Qualcomm’s board, at the March 6th annual Qualcomm shareholder meeting.

Faber asked what happens if Tan gets some board members voted in but not the entire slate, to which Tan replied he will walk away.

“This is a binary proposal,” he said. "If at least a majority of our slate don’t get in after march 6th, then I guess we got a message that this deal is not going to happen, we will walk. It won’t work unless we get a majority of the board."

Cramer asked about Qualcomm’s pending deal to buy out NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), which he noted looks like it might get full regulatory approval, including in China, this weekend.

Cramer pointed out NXP stock "is way lower than it should be.” He asked, "If Qualcomm pays $125,” meaning, a stepped-up bid for NXP versus the proposed $110, "what does that do to your bid?” for Qualcomm.

Tan pushed back, saying “We made it very clear, it all boils down to, NXPI will not solve Qualcomm’s problems,. And if Qualcomm raises the price on NXPI, we’ve made it very clear, it is a clear transfer of value to NXP shareholders, and we will preserve our options. We are confident any shareholders will consider this very carefully. $110 is a full and fair price for NXPI."

Cramer raised the concern that Broadcom is “doubling down” on smartphone markets by going after Qualcomm, noting Qualcomm are “already too much into the cell phone market. Why do I want Broadcom to double down on an area of tech that is weak and getting weaker?"

Tan rebutted the characterization of the market, saying "We — our business model — why did we go out and try to buy them, they [Qualcomm] have very good technology that will be sustainable, in markets that are very sustainable. We are looking at these great assets and creating a lot of shareholder value for both Broadcom and Qualcomm shareholders."

Cramer asked shouldn’t the bid be "well in excess of $82?"

Tan said the “credibility on these numbers is extremely questionable,” and argued that “five years ago, 4G was big, they fumbled,” meaning Qualcomm. “Now, 5G is coming, and I believe they will fumble again."

He added, "Delivering value to shareholders is something they have never shown an ability to do."

Faber noted the frequent characterization of Broadcom as a "roll up” company, constantly absorbing assets, saying "There are those who say if you don’t do this deal, your stock will be moribund."

Tan replied, “Not true."

"What we do is we acquire businesses that are in proven markets, which we build upon, and sustain."

"We are building a company,” said Tan, "that is sustainable for the next ten years. We are doing Qualcomm because there are assets to be acquired, but if we don’t, we will continue to acquire assets in semiconductors."

Faber came back to the issue of Wednesday’s conversation, saying, "You’re not making any new offers, you’ve taken hell or high water off the table, so what do you bring to the meeting on Wednesday?"

Tan repeated, "We want their board to seriously engage with us."

"We want their board to negotiate a merger agreement with us by March 6th."

When Faber pressed the point, Tan replied, “The last two months, we’ve been — my CFO and I — have been on the road the entire time, meeting virtually the entire shareholder base of Qualcomm, and getting strong support. We believe they want their board to engage with us; we are asking their board to negotiate a merger agreement with us by March 6th."

He reiterated, “We have a very compelling case on two fronts."

“With the kinds of financials they [Qualcomm] have delivered the last five, ten years, no index fund will own them."

“They would have to think hard about why couldn’t this be done better. We are confident that may come into play."

Cramer asked if investors are talking about the matter of Apple (AAPL) and its ongoing legal battles with Qualcomm. "How many people talk about the Apple relationship,” he asked.

Said Tan, “no one has said that to us directly. No, it’s about more than one customer. It has to be worked out. It’s something that gets back to a bigger perspective. It’s a broader perspective. It’s all customers. We will work, we will transition, we will reset the business model, so it’s not a contentious model."

Faber closed with asking whether that means the licensing business at Qualcomm, whereby it gets paid even for devices where its chips don’t show up, would be jettisoned by Tan.

Said Tan, "No, that’s not true. This is something that is — everything takes a transition. What we will do is reset the business model over a period of time that will make it sustainable."

The last three years, we realized Qualcomm was hit with fines which are more than what they made in profit over last three quarters; that’s not a business model that is sustainable, that is broken."

Qualcomm shares are up $75 cents, or 1%, at $64.75, while Broadcom shares are up $3.86, or 1.6%, at $239.36. NXP stock is up 28 cents at $116.06.