Softbank sought to buy Intel´s entire foundry division, known as Intel Foundry Services (IFS), but instead agreed to take an equity stake in the business, Tom´s Hardware reports citing the Financial Times. The article does not state the monetary value of the stake. The deal is presented as consistent with an industry expectation that Intel may eventually spin off IFS as a standalone company, a path compared to the earlier separation between AMD and GlobalFoundries.
According to the report, Softbank was effectively stonewalled by Intel´s commitments tied to government funding. In 2024 Intel entered an agreement with the US Department of Commerce to receive funding under the Biden Administration´s CHIPS and Science Act. The article states Intel was granted an amount described as Not stated billion in funds, and that the funding is conditional on Intel maintaining at least a 50.1% stake in IFS if it ever seeks to spin the division off.
The coverage frames the Softbank outcome as shaped by those funding conditions: rather than a full buyout, Softbank accepted a minority equity position while Intel retains majority control over IFS per the terms tied to the CHIPS and Science Act funding. The article does not provide further details on the size of Softbank´s stake, governance arrangements, a timeline for any future spin-off, or additional strategic plans from either company.
