US chipmaker Qualcomm has bowed to investor pressure and raised its bid for NXP Semiconductors, hoping a new $44bn offer to buy the Dutch company will seal the longstanding deal and bolster its own defences against a hostile takeover bid from Broadcom.

After months of pressure from hedge funds including Elliott Management to up its offer, Qualcomm agreed to increase its bid to $127.5 per NXP share, a bump of 16 per cent from the initial price of $110 per share proposed in October 2016.

Qualcomm said on Tuesday that it entered into a binding agreement with nine NXP shareholders, including Elliott and hedge fund Soroban Capital, which collectively hold more than 28 per cent of the group and have agreed to tender their shares at the new price. It also reduced the acceptance threshold for its bid to just 70 per cent of NXP’s investor base from 80 per cent and set a deadline for investors of March 5.