Qualcomm has raised its offer for NXP Semiconductors by 16%, to $127.50 a share, despite its own predator, Broadcom, saying it did not think the price should go up. This sparked speculation that Qualcomm, which had previously rejected Broadcom’s advances again, had made the move to reduce the chances of a takeover. Raising its NXP bid to the equivalent of $43bn was enough to secure support from the holders of about 28% of NXP stock, including activist Elliott Management, which had previously said the deal undervalued the Dutch firm. It is now likely that Qualcomm will secure sufficient shareholder support. Broadcom had said, when it raised its own offer for Qualcomm to an industry record-breaking $121bn, that this was contingent…