- Following more than two months of drama, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) is set to announce tomorrow it's buying FPGA vendor Altera (NASDAQ:ALTR) for the same $54/share price Bloomberg reported hearing in early April, per the WSJ.
- The reported price translates to a $16.2B valuation (per Yahoo/Google Finance), or $13.2B after factoring net cash/investments. It represents an 11% premium to Altera's Friday close, and a 56% premium to where it traded before the WSJ first reported of deal talks on March 27.
- Since the first reports, Altera has posted disappointing Q1 results/Q2 guidance, and Intel has announced a server CPU partnership with programmable ASIC maker eASIC (NYSEARCA:EASI) that has been seen as a hedge against Altera. But that alliance could prove complementary, as FPGAs remain the gold standard for rapid programmability and low design costs, while ASICs maintain a size, performance, and power edge.
- Will Xilinx (NASDAQ:XLNX) get acquired next? Reuters reported earlier this month Avago has shown interest in the Altera archrival. But that was before Avago struck a $37B deal to merge with Broadcom.
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Previously: Intel/Altera seen providing many synergies, sparking more M&A