Avago to buy Broadcom for about $37B

NEW YORK (AP) — Avago Technologies is buying rival chipmaker Broadcom in a cash and stock deal worth about $37 billion.

The deal, announced Thursday, comes at a time when technology stocks are booming and the companies that make the guts for tablets and smartphones are looking for ways to grow aggressively.

Avago Technologies Ltd. will pay $17 billion in cash, along with the equivalent of about 140 million Avago shares, which were worth about $20 billion when the markets closed Wednesday.

Broadcom shareholders will be able to trade each of their current shares for either a cash payment of $54.50, or 0.4378 shares of the new company's stock.

When the deal closes, Broadcom shareholders will own about 32 percent of the combined company.

Broadcom Corp. is based in Irvine, California.