Lattice mulls making offer for Intel’s Altera

Oregon-based Lattice Semiconductor is considering making an offer for all of Intel’s Altera, sources have told Bloomberg.

The move could complicate Intel’s plans to sell a minority stake in the unit.

Low power programmable firm Lattice is seeking a private equity backer as it explores a potential bid, the report said. 

Francisco Partners, Bain Capital and Silver Lake Management are some other firms looking at offers to invest in Altera, whose multi-use chips are mainly deployed in telecommunications networks.

However, Lattice’s attempt is far from a done deal, considering it has a market value of USD 7.48 billion. That is less than half Intel would need to break even on the roughly USD 17 billion it paid for Altera in 2015.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has said the chipmaker is aiming to conclude the Altera process in early 2025 and reviewing options for other parts of its portfolio.

Earlier, Reuters had reported that Silver Lake and Bain Capital were among the potential suitors that may compete to acquire a minority stake in Altera.

Tech firm Qualcomm is also investigating the possibility of acquiring parts of Intel’s design business to enhance its product portfolio, according to a previous report from Bloomberg. 

For the quarter ended September 30, Altera grew 14% sequentially, posting revenue of USD 412 million.

Once the world’s leading chipmaker, Intel ceded its advantage to rivals like TSMC and Nvidia, failing to capitalize on an AI boom. 

Intel and the US government are said to be in talks to finalize a multi-billion dollar agreement for direct funding for the struggling chipmaker. In August, the tech giant announced it would cut 15% of its total workforce, or 15,000 jobs worldwide and reduce costs by over USD 10 billion.