SoftBank Group Corp. said late Monday it will invest $2 billion in Intel Corp. by purchasing newly issued common stock at $23 a share, a slight discount to the chipmaker’s latest close. The transaction gives the Japanese conglomerate a stake of just under 2 percent in Intel, making it one of the U.S. company’s top-10 shareholders. Intel described the placement as a strategic vote of confidence in its push to expand advanced semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. A person familiar with the terms said SoftBank will not seek a board seat or commit to buying Intel chips, while the proceeds will support capital spending and research. Investors welcomed the news: Intel shares rose roughly 6 percent in U.S. after-hours and pre-market trading, whereas SoftBank fell about 4 percent in Tokyo. The $23 offer price is marginally below Intel’s Monday close of $23.66. The deal deepens SoftBank’s growing wager on artificial-intelligence infrastructure, which already includes a planned $500 billion “Stargate” U.S. data-center project and stakes in Arm and other chip assets. The Financial Times reported that SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son recently met Intel Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan to discuss acquiring Intel’s faltering contract chipmaking business, though the companies have not commented on the talks. Intel is seeking fresh capital after posting a $18.8 billion loss in 2024 and ceding ground in AI processors to rivals such as Nvidia and AMD. Bloomberg has separately reported that Washington is weighing a 10 percent federal stake in the company as part of efforts to secure domestic chip production.
Problem is that the $2bn from Softbank and $10bn from the US government are not enough to fix Intel... SoftBank is taking a $2 billion stake in chipmaker Intel $INTC. The move is part of efforts to ramp up support for the troubled US tech giant.
Wait WHAT? SoftBank’s founder Masayoshi Son held talks with Intel’s CEO LBT about buying its Intel Foundry in the week before Monday’s announcement (2B stock purchases). Son has met LBT since the latter’s appointment in March to discuss a potential deal as the US company tries https://t.co/a2lKi8KgWk
SoftBank is taking a $2 billion stake in chipmaker Intel. The move is part of efforts to ramp up support for the troubled US tech giant. More here https://t.co/h9ejqY6zv6 https://t.co/sLU1w9BNrl