Broadcom could be shortening its lifeline to Symantec, with reports suggesting that the two firms have drifted apart in negotiations for the chip giant to purchase the beleaguered security company.

CNBC this morning is reporting that the two companies have poured cold water over negotiations due to price considerations. Symantec is reportedly looking for a purchase price of at least $28 per share, which appears to be more than what Broadcom is willing to offer.

The news sent Symantec’s stock plunging more than 13% this morning to near $22 per share, which is down from the $26.07 per share it hit last week. Broadcom’s stock, on the other hand, was trading up just over 1% this morning on the news.

Reports from earlier this month indicated that the two companies were in “advanced talks” about a deal that would help diversify Broadcom’s operations. That news sent Symantec’s stock surging, while Broadcom’s sagged.

Both companies refused to comment on the proposed deal.

The offer is seen as a lifeline for Symantec, which has suffered through a rough 18 months. The firm last year launched an internal investigation into its financial reporting (and a related SEC probe), announced plans to slash jobs as part of a broader restructuring, lost a handful of top executives, and was reportedly an acquisition target.

The vendor’s rollercoaster has continued this year. It managed to post fiscal third-quarter results that came in above expectations; acquired software-defined perimeter technology startup Luminate Security; and announced collaboration plans with cloud giants Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and IBM Cloud.

However, in early May, its CEO Greg Clark abruptly resigned following release of its fiscal fourth-quarter results, which included weak enterprise sales and disappointing forecasts for the first quarter and full 2020 fiscal year. Clark told investors that the move was tied to family considerations.

For Broadcom, the deal would allow the chip maker to continue to move outside that area. The company late last year closed on its $18.9 billion acquisition of CA Technologies, which specialized in mainframes targeted at enterprise customers. That deal followed up on Broadcom’s eventually failed attempt to acquire chip rival Qualcomm, which has a strong presence in the device market, and its $5.9 billion acquisition of Brocade in late 2017.

Charles King, president and principal analyst at Pund-IT, noted in an email to SDxCentral that he agreed that the move could be a push by Broadcom to “diversify itself by acquiring solid businesses that are leaders in their markets.”

“That was the strategy behind the company’s acquisition of CA last year, a deal that seems to be working out pretty much as Broadcom had envisioned,” King wrote. “If it can follow a similar path with Symantec, the result should include enhanced financial stability – a critical point for a company focused on highly cyclical semiconductor markets.”