(Bloomberg) – SoftBank Group Corp. and its majority stake Arm Holdings Plc are exploring a deal for Ampere Computing LLC, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Ampere, the Oracle Corp.-backed semiconductor designer, attracted Arm’s interest while exploring its strategic options, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private.
The talks could still fail, people warned. It is also possible that Ampère will end up being bought by another suitor.
Ampere, which designs semiconductors using Arm’s technology, was valued at $8 billion in a proposed minority investment by Japan’s SoftBank in 2021, Bloomberg News reported at the time. It was not possible to know what valuation SoftBank, Arm and Ampere are currently discussing.
Representatives for Arm and Ampère declined to comment. Spokespeople for SoftBank and Oracle did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ampere worked with a financial advisor to help drum up interest in the buyout, Bloomberg News reported in September. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company’s interest in a deal with a larger industry player suggests it didn’t see an easy path to an IPO.
A deal for Ampere, whose early backers also include Carlyle Group Inc., would add to a wave of chip companies seeking to capitalize on a boom in AI spending. Oracle said last year that it owned 29% of the startup and could exercise future investment options that would give it control of the chipmaker.
Although Ampère stands to benefit from the continued AI frenzy, the market has become more competitive, with several large technology companies racing to develop the same types of chips that Ampère makes. While there is huge interest in controlling key components as the data center industry retools for the AI era, Ampere, like its biggest rivals Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., must respond to a shift in spending away from central processor units. , or CPU, to Nvidia Corp.’s accelerator chips.
Ampere makes processors for data center machines using Arm technology. Arm is increasingly moving from being a licensor of core standards and blueprints to becoming a full-fledged chipmaker. The arrival of Ampere engineers, many of whom worked for Intel’s former industry-leading server chip unit, could add expertise and momentum to CEO René Haas’s push into the field. walk.
