UPDATED 23:05 EDT / MAY 31 2015

NEWS

Report: Intel close to deal to acquire rival chip-making firm Altera for $15b

Intel Corp.’s efforts in trying to acquire rival chip-making firm Altera Corp. may be close to coming to fruition in the week ahead with reports indicating a deal may be announced as early as Monday.

The New York Times reported that the deal would price Altera at $54 a share, a valuation of “more than $15 billion,” although their source cautioned that “talks are continuing and might still collapse.”

The deal would come in at a 15 percent premium over Altera’s Thursday closing price of $46.97

Reports of a hostile takeover of Altera by Intel first emerged at the beginning of May, when it was said that Intel had already signed a working agreement earlier this year to acquire Altera, and that the deal included the option for Intel to launch a hostile takeover bid if the two companies couldn’t agree to terms before then.

Of note, Reuters reports that the agreement had a standstill clause that expires on June 1, giving Intel the option to launch a hostile bid after that.

Altera is said to have previously rejected an offer of $54 per share, but that was before their first quarter earnings which saw the chip maker post a sequential 9 percent decline in revenue and a second-quarter guidance that predicted weakness in demand, particularly in its wireless business.

Founded in 1983, Altera manufactures Programmable Logic Devices, an electronic component used to build reconfigurable digital circuits.

Altera’s portfolio of custom logic solutions aims to address variety of system-level challenges including performance, power consumption, total cost of ownership, board area, time-to-market and design team productivity.

The companies products are used in industries including automotive, broadcast, computer and storage, consumer, industrial, medical, military, test and measurement, wireless and wireline.

Good buy for Intel

Altera being snapped up would be a good buy for Intel, given their range of products don’t compete with Intel’s core chip business, and instead would add to Intel’s product lineup.

Altera’s product lineup also plays nicely into both the mobile and emergent Internet of Things (IoT) market, an area Intel needs a stronger presence in given that its bottom line has suffered in recent years due to the decline in PC sales.

The acquisition of Altera will follow in the footsteps of Avago Technologies Ltd. $37 billion acquisition of Broadcom Corp., May 29.

Image credit: holstphoto/Flickr/CC by 2.0

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