(Bloomberg) — SoftBank Group Corp. and its majority-owned Arm Holdings Plc are exploring a deal for Ampere Computing LLC, in keeping with people accustomed to the matter.
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Ampere, the Oracle Corp.-backed semiconductor designer, has drawn takeover interest from Arm while exploring its strategic options, said the people, who asked to not be identified since the discussions were private.
Talks could still disintegrate, the people cautioned. It’s also possible Ampere could find yourself being bought by one other suitor.
Ampere, which designs semiconductors that use Arm’s technology, was valued at $8 billion in a proposed minority investment by Japan’s SoftBank in 2021, Bloomberg News reported on the time. It couldn’t be learned what valuation SoftBank, Arm and Ampere are currently discussing.
Representatives for Arm and Ampere declined to comment. Spokespeople for SoftBank and Oracle didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment.
Ampere has been working with a financial adviser to assist field takeover interest, Bloomberg News reported in September. The Santa Clara, California-based company’s interest in a take care of a bigger player within the industry suggests that it didn’t see a straightforward path to an initial public offering.
A deal for Ampere, whose early backers also include Carlyle Group Inc., would add to a wave of chip firms seeking to capitalize on an AI spending boom. Oracle said last yr that it owns 29% of the startup and may exercise future investments options that will give it control of the chipmaker.
Though Ampere stands to profit from the continuing AI frenzy, the market has grown more competitive, with several large tech firms rushing to develop the identical sorts of chips that Ampere makes. While there’s an enormous interest in charge of key components as the information center industry retools for the AI age, Ampere, like larger rivals Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., is having to answer a shift in spending away from central processor units, or CPUs, toward Nvidia Corp.’s accelerator chips.
Ampere makes processors for data center machinery using Arm’s technology. Arm is increasingly moving from being a licenser of fundamental standards and basic blueprints to more of a whole chipmaker. The addition of Ampere’s engineers, many who worked for Intel’s former industry-leading server chip unit, might add expertise and impetus to Chief Executive Officer Rene Haas’ push into that market.