Intel Corporation has announced a definitive agreement to sell a controlling 51% stake in its Altera business to Silver Lake, a prominent technology investment firm. This deal values Altera at several billion dollars and marks a significant step toward establishing Altera as an independent company dedicated to delivering advanced FPGA (field programmable gate array) semiconductor solutions. With the acquisition, Altera becomes the largest independent FPGA supplier in the industry, positioning itself to leverage the expanding opportunities presented by the growing adoption of Artificial Intelligence technologies and applications.
Following the transaction, Intel will retain a 49% interest in Altera, ensuring ongoing participation in the subsidiary´s future growth and innovation. The company emphasizes that this arrangement allows Altera to operate with increased autonomy, enabling decisive investments in new technologies while Intel refocuses on its core operations. The partnership structure is intended to unlock value for both companies and their customers by accelerating FPGA advancement, particularly in domains driven by data-centric and Artificial Intelligence workloads.
In conjunction with the investment news, Altera announced a leadership transition: Raghib Hussain will become chief executive officer, effective May 5, 2025. Hussain brings a wealth of experience to the role, having previously served as president of Products and Technologies at Marvell. His background also includes co-founding communications firm Cavium, holding executive positions at leading technology companies such as Cisco and Cadence, and founding the enterprise security startup VPNet. Hussain´s appointment is seen as a move to further cement Altera´s leadership and innovation agenda amid the rapidly evolving semiconductor landscape.