Asian Tech Press (SEP 14) -- Qualcomm Inc. has formally offered to buy Swedish advanced automotive technology vendor Veoneer Inc. for more than US$4 billion, beating out a previous offer from Canadian auto parts company Magna International, according to sources.

Qualcomm has officially offered to buy Veoneer for $37 per share, according to sources familiar with the matter. Qualcomm is deeply interested in Veoneer's Arriver autonomous driving unit, which is responsible for developing technologies such as ADAS. After the acquisition is completed, it plans to sell non-Arriver assets to a private equity firm or other car dealers.

The deal comes on the heels of Magna International's July offer to buy Veoneer for $31.25 per share, a total purchase price of $3.8 billion. Magna has the right to make a counter-offer since both boards had initially announced that they had reached an agreement on the acquisition before Qualcomm joined the bid.

Dan Levy, an analyst at Credit Suisse Automotive, said Magna will likely pass on the acquisition because some of the company's investors are still wary of the purchase.

Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Veoneer is a provider of automotive technology. It designs, develops and manufactures software, hardware and systems for Advanced-Driving Assistance Systems.