Don’t expect Qualcomm Inc ( QCOM ). to buy Intel Corporation ( INTC ) , Benchmark analyst Cody Acree says.

Apollo Global Management ( APO ) intends to make a $5-billion investment in Intel ( INTC ). This development occurred after the Wall Street Journal reported that Qualcomm ( QCOM ) was interested in acquiring Intel ( INTC ) outright — a deal Acree says “was particularly thin on specific details.”

Benchmark analysts “believe Qualcomm's ( QCOM ) ultimate acquisition of Intel ( INTC ) is logically unlikely,” Acree says.

In addition to Qualcomm ( QCOM ) facing a “steep financial hurdle,” such an acquisition would also invite a “high degree of regulatory scrutiny,” Acree wrote in an analyst note Monday.

Benchmark understands Qualcomm's ( QCOM ) “attraction to the possibility of a combination of at least a portion of Intel,” Acree says. Intel’s chip design business, with its focus on the PC/notebook and server markets, is attractive, he adds.

Qualcomm ( QCOM ) would need to offer an attractive 40% to 50% premium to its current trading price of around $22 for shareholders to take the deal seriously, but the regulatory spotlight put on the transaction may be too intense to overcome, according to Acree.

Breakup fees would likely be $2 billion if the deal fell through.

Qualcomm ( QCOM ) abandoned an attempt to buy NXP Semiconductors in 2018. It cost the company $2 billion after China’s state regulator rejected the proposal.

Nvidia Corporation’s failed effort to take over Arm Holdings came with a $1.25 billion breakup fee after regulators in U.S., Europe and China blocked that deal.

Acree also said that Intel ( INTC ) has had major design challenges over the past few years that have cost it market share to AMD in both personal computers and servers, and it lacks a competitive edge in artificial intelligence strategy.

“Ultimately, we're not convinced that Qualcomm ( QCOM ) will make a firm bid for Intel,” he says.

Acree reiterated a Hold rating on Intel ( INTC ), a Buy rating on Qualcomm ( QCOM ) and reiterated a $240 price target for Qualcomm ( QCOM ).

Price Action: Intel ( INTC ) rose 1.65% to $22.20 in Monday’s early-morning trading, while Qualcomm ( QCOM ) slipped 0.17% to $168.63.

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