Intel Buys Altera for $16.7 Billion

Altera, the US-based manufacturer of programmable logic devices, has been purchased by Intel in an all-cash deal worth $16.7 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal (paywalled, via Engadget).

“Altera is now part of Intel, and together we will make the next generation of semiconductors not only better but able to do more,” Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel, said in a press release. “We will apply Moore’s Law to grow today’s FPGA business, and we’ll invent new products that make amazing experiences of the future possible – experiences like autonomous driving and machine learning.”

The deal, which is the biggest in Intel’s history, will unify Intel’s Xeon processors with Altera’s field programmable gate arrays, which are already in use together by tech giants such as Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, unifying the conjunction under one commercial banner. Intel will begin selling the pair as a bundle to start with, but aims to unify the systems into a single chip in due course.

“As part of Intel, we will create market-leading programmable logic devices that deliver a wider range of capabilities than customers experience today,” Dan McNamara, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of the Programmable Solutions Group at Intel, and former Altera employee, added. “Combining Altera’s industry-leading FPGA technology and customer support with Intel’s world-class semiconductor manufacturing capabilities will enable customers to create the next generation of electronic systems with unmatched performance and power efficiency.”