Source: Intel
By Bolaji Ojo
Intel Corp. said it has agreed to sell 51 percent of Altera to venture capital firm Silver Lake, divesting majority ownership in the programmable IC vendor and gaining approximately $$4.5 billion to fund operations. The company simultaneously announced the appointment of Raghib Hussain as CEO of Altera. He will replace Sandra Rivera effective May 5.
The company said the transaction valued Altera at $8.75 billion, about half of what the company paid nearly 10 years ago when it acquired the company. Intel said it will retain 49 percent of Altera, CEO Lip-Bu Tan, said, in a statement. The companies said they expect the transaction to close in the second half of this year.
Intel had previously planned to spin off Altera as a standalone company. Rivera was named CEO of Altera in early 2024 after the microprocessor vendor announced the planned separation from the parent company. The transaction announced today continues an ongoing transition at Intel as the company takes further steps to whittle down operating costs and reorganize its operations.
“Today’s announcement reflects our commitment to sharpening our focus, lowering our expense structure and strengthening our balance sheet,” Tan said, in a statement. “Altera continues to make progress repositioning its product portfolio to participate in the fastest growing and most profitable segments of the FPGA market. We look forward to partnering with Silver Lake upon closing of the transaction, as their industry expertise will help to accelerate Altera’s efforts and unlock additional economic value for Intel.”
Altera’s incoming CEO, Hussain, is a veteran of the semiconductor industry and formerly head of products and technologies at Marvell. He managed product strategy, innovation and product development at Marvell, which last week announced the planned sale of its automotive ethernet operation to Infineon Technologies. Hussain previously worked at Cisco and Cadence and was a co-founder of Cavium, a networking and security solutions company.
“I am excited to lead Altera in its next chapter, and this milestone with Silver Lake furthers Altera’s journey to be the world’s No. 1 FPGA solutions provider,” said Hussain. “Backed by Silver Lake’s strong track record and now with clarity of focus as an independent company, Altera is well-positioned to build on its momentum and deliver breakthrough FPGA-based solutions that are shaping the future of compute driven by AI. I am grateful for the impact Sandra has made and the team she has built as we begin Altera’s next phase of growth.”
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