SoftBank Group Corp. and a subsidiary of Arm Holdings Plc are considering a deal with semiconductor developer Ampere Computing LLC. This is reported by foreign media.
In 2021, the market value of Ampere, controlled by Oracle Corp., was estimated at $8 billion. Ampere attracted Arm's interest based on the company's strategic capabilities.
In 2024, Oracle owned a 29% stake in Ampere startup, which is sponsored by Carlyle Group Inc.
In September 2024, Ampere held talks with consultants to attract investors to conduct an IPO.
Ampere benefits from the hype around artificial intelligence, but competition in the market is increasing, and several large technology companies are developing similar chips. Despite the interest in managing key components, taking into account the restructuring of data centers to use artificial intelligence, Ampere and larger competitors Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. we are forced to react to the transition from central processors to Nvidia Corp. accelerator chips.
Arm is turning from a licensor of fundamental standards and basic drawings into a full-cycle chip manufacturer. The addition of Ampere engineers, many of whom previously worked in Intel's server chip division, could provide an impetus to enter this market.
The Ampere sale could continue a series of deals with semiconductor manufacturers. According to the data, transactions involving chip manufacturers more than doubled in 2024 and exceeded $31 billion.
SoftBank Group is a Japanese investment holding company in the high—tech sector. The company includes divisions of SoftBank (mobile communication, Internet and telecommunications services in Japan), Sprint (mobile communication services in the USA), Yahoo Japan (online advertising, e-commerce), Distribution (sale of mobile devices and accessories for personal computers in Japan), Arm (microprocessor design and software technology development), SoftBank Vision Fund, Delta Fund and Brightstar (mobile and fixed-line communication services, sale of mobile phones abroad). The headquarters is located in Tokyo (Japan).
Ampere Computing LLC is a startup developing processors for cloud computing. Ampere manufactures processors for data center equipment using Arm technology. Ampere chips are used to speed up computing by Microsoft, Oracle, and Uber Technologies. The headquarters is located in Santa Clara (USA).
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