Chip Designer Arm Considers Acquiring Ampere Computing

(Bloomberg) — SoftBank Group Corp. and its majority-owned Arm Holdings Plc are exploring a deal for Ampere Computing LLC, according to people familiar with the matter.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Ampere, the Oracle Corp.-backed semiconductor designer, has drawn takeover interest from Arm while exploring its strategic options, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private.

Talks could still fall apart, the people cautioned. It’s also possible Ampere could end up being bought by another suitor.

Ampere, which designs semiconductors that use 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 couldn’t be learned what valuation SoftBank, Arm and Ampere are currently discussing.

Representatives for Arm and Ampere declined to comment. Spokespeople for SoftBank and Oracle didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ampere has been working with a financial adviser to help field takeover interest, Bloomberg News reported in September. The Santa Clara, California-based company’s interest in a deal with a larger player in the industry suggests that it didn’t see an easy path to an initial public offering.

A deal for Ampere, whose early backers also include Carlyle Group Inc., would add to a wave of chip companies looking to capitalize on an AI spending boom. Oracle said last year that it owns 29% of the startup and can exercise future investments options that would give it control of the chipmaker.

Though Ampere stands to benefit from the continuing AI frenzy, the market has grown more competitive, with several large tech companies rushing to develop the same kinds of chips that Ampere makes. While there’s a huge interest in control of key components as the data center industry retools for the AI age, Ampere, like larger rivals Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc., is having to respond to a shift in spending away from central processor units, or CPUs, toward Nvidia Corp.’s accelerator chips.

Ampere makes processors for data center machinery using Arm’s technology. Arm is increasingly moving from being a licenser of fundamental standards and basic blueprints to more of a complete chipmaker. The addition of Ampere’s engineers, many who worked for Intel’s former industry-leading server chip unit, might add expertise and impetus to Chief Executive Officer Rene Haas’ push into that market.

Ampere founder and CEO Renee James, a former Intel executive, had eyed taking Ampere public. The company said in April 2022 that it had filed confidentially for a US IPO, at a time when demand for chips was surging.

A sale of Ampere would continue a run of semiconductor deals. Global deals involving chip companies more than doubled last year to over $31 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

–With assistance from Brody Ford and Min Jeong Lee.