INTEL has shortlisted a number of buyout firms for the next round of bidding for its Altera unit, according to sources familiar with the matter, as the beleaguered chipmaker makes headway on a process started by its now ousted chief executive officer.
Private equity firms including Francisco Partners and Silver Lake Management are competing alongside Lattice Semiconductor in a second round for Altera, which specialises in the design of low-power programmable chips, the sources said, asking not to be identified as discussing confidential information.
Apollo Global Management and Bain Capital are also pursuing Altera, the sources said.
Intel is giving suitors towards the end of January to formalise their offers, the sources said. It’s possible other bidders could emerge or the process could end without a sale, they added.
Representatives for Intel, Apollo, Bain Capital, Francisco Partners and Silver Lake declined to comment. A spokesperson for Lattice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The move by Intel to advance the process that was started by former CEO Pat Gelsinger is a sign that the company – previously the world’s biggest chipmaker by revenue over almost three decades – is eager to see through already announced plans, even as some have criticised the pace of progress on other initiatives.
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After calling for initial bids prior to the US Thanksgiving holiday in November, Intel has been presented with deal-structure options that range from acquiring a 20 to 30 per cent stake to taking full control of Altera, the sources said. Some parties have outlined multiple paths in their proposals, which value the unit at as little as US$9 billion to more than US$12 billion, according to the sources. Intel paid roughly US$17 billion to acquire Altera in 2015.
For Lattice, any attempt to gain control of the business could prove difficult. Lattice has a market value of US$8 billion and is likely to require additional firepower, potentially from a financial partner, to prevail.
Intel chief financial officer David Zinsner, who was named interim co-CEO alongside Michelle Johnston Holthaus this month, told investors at an industry conference that the chipmaker “kicked off” the process to engage with outside investors.
“Our thinking is we will get another partner in similar to what we did with the IMS business,” Zinsner said at the Barclays Global Technology Conference last week.
Intel sold a 20 per cent stake in its IMS Nanofabrication business in June 2023 to Bain Capital Special Situations in a deal that valued that unit at approximately US$4.3 billion. Three months later, it announced the subsequent sale of a 10 per cent stake in IMS to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company at the same valuation. IMS supplies so-called multibeam mask writing tools that some of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers use to produce chips. BLOOMBERG
