Chipmaker Altera, backed by private equity giant Silver Lake and Intel (INTC), is preparing to confidentially submit an application for an initial public offering, according to media reports citing people familiar with the matter. The listing could take place as soon as this year, and the IPO could raise more than $2 billion.
From a wholly owned Intel subsidiary to Silver Lake control and now to preparation for an independent IPO, Altera’s evolving ownership structure reflects the dual logic of Intel’s business restructuring and private capital operations. If the listing is completed smoothly, it will not only provide Silver Lake and Intel with a channel for value realization, but will also return Altera, a programmable chipmaker with more than 40 years of history, to public market pricing. Driven by the AI investment boom, the application prospects of programmable chips such as FPGAs have attracted attention, making Altera’s IPO one of the large listings in the chip industry worth watching this year.
The report said Altera is expected to confidentially submit its listing application in the coming weeks. If market conditions allow, the company could complete the IPO as soon as this year, with potential fundraising of more than $2 billion. However, the final size, valuation and specific timing of the IPO may still change.
Altera’s history dates back to 1983. The company mainly develops programmable chips, with products used in fields such as artificial intelligence, industrial automation and robotics. Altera is especially known for its field-programmable gate array products. Unlike traditional chips whose functions are basically fixed after manufacturing, programmable chips can be configured according to customers’ different application needs, and are therefore widely used in industrial, communications and data processing scenarios that require flexible computing power. As investment in AI infrastructure, robotics and automation continues to grow, the application prospects of such chips have also drawn market attention.
The relationship between Altera and Intel can be traced back more than a decade. In 2015, Intel spent about $16.7 billion to acquire Altera, one of the largest acquisitions in Intel’s history at the time, aiming to expand its presence in the programmable chip market. However, as Intel has advanced business restructuring and sought to improve its financial condition in recent years, Altera’s ownership structure has undergone major changes. Last year, Silver Lake acquired a 51% controlling stake in Altera, while Intel continued to hold the remaining shares. After that, MGX, an investment company backed by Abu Dhabi, also joined the transaction.
Altera’s preparation for an independent listing now means that this chip company, once wholly acquired by Intel, is moving further toward independent operation in the capital market. If the IPO is completed smoothly, it will also provide a new channel for value realization for the shares held by Silver Lake and Intel. For Intel, Altera’s listing is also of great significance. After selling the controlling stake, Intel still retains an important minority stake in Altera, so Altera’s future public market valuation may become an important reference for measuring the value of this asset.
At the same time, the programmable chip market in which Altera operates is being driven by the AI investment boom. As demand grows in areas such as data centers, industrial automation and robotics for high-performance, low-latency and flexibly configurable computing power, the application space for programmable chips such as FPGAs in the AI industry has also attracted investor attention. If Altera ultimately raises more than $2 billion through the IPO, it will become one of the large listings in the chip industry worth watching this year, and it also means that as AI-related semiconductor assets continue to be sought after by capital, Silver Lake and Intel are preparing to push this programmable chipmaker with more than 40 years of history back into the public market.
