(Bloomberg) — Intel Corp. is exploring a deal to acquire semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Closely held GlobalFoundries, controlled by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Co., could be valued at about $30 billion, the Journal reported. The deal isn’t guaranteed and GlobalFoundries may continue to pursue an initial public offering, the paper said, adding that the talks don’t appear to include GlobalFoundries itself. A spokesperson for Santa Clara, California-based Intel declined to comment on the report, and GlobalFoundries didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Any bid for GlobalFoundries would buttress Intel’s ambitious plan to regain its once unmatched lead in chip production. Intel Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger, who took the top job in February, has pledged to restore the company to its dominant role in manufacturing and computer processors after losing ground to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and others. He’s also moving to take on those rivals directly by opening the doors of Intel’s plants to other chipmakers, including competitors, and has said he’ll spend heavily to build new factories specifically to act as foundries that make chips for others.
“We’re going to be leaders in the market, and we’re going to satisfy the new foundry customers,” Gelsinger told journalists after taking over as CEO. “Because the world needs more semiconductors, and we’re going to step into that gap in a powerful and meaningful way.”
Intel, with a market value of more than $225 billion, had $22.4 billion in cash and short-term investments as of the end of the first quarter.
GlobalFoundries has been planning an IPO that could value the chipmaker at about $30 billion, Bloomberg News has reported. GlobalFoundries was created when Mubadala bought Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s manufacturing facilities in 2009 and later combined them with Singapore’s Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd.
Contract chipmakers like GlobalFoundries, TSMC and Samsung fabricate semiconductors for large technology companies such as Apple Inc., Nvidia Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. GlobalFoundries in April said it’s moving its headquarters to Malta, New York, the site of a major chipmaking plant.
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