Intel announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell 51% of its Altera business to Silver Lake. The deal values Altera at $8.75 billion and establishes Altera’s operational independence, making it the largest pure-play FPGA (field programmable gate array) semiconductor solutions company. Altera provides a scalable architecture and tool chain focused on driving growth and FPGA innovation to meet the demands and opportunities of an AI-driven market. Intel will own the remaining 49% of Altera’s business.
Intel also revealed that Raghib Hussain will succeed Sandra Rivera as chief executive officer of Altera, effective May 5, 2025. Hussain is a technology executive with strong business acumen and engineering credentials. He joins Altera from his previous role as president of Products and Technologies at Marvell. Before joining Marvell in 2018, Hussain served as chief operating officer of Cavium, a company he co-founded. Prior to Cavium, Hussain held engineering roles at both Cisco and Cadence and helped found VPNet, an enterprise security company.
Altera has been at the forefront of driving FPGA innovations for over 40 years. And the company provides leading programmable solutions that are easy-to-use and deploy in a range of strategically important segments such as industrial, communications, data center and military, aerospace, and government, and emerging markets such as AI/edge and robotics. Its broad portfolio of programmable semiconductor solutions, software and development tools deliver the reliability and flexibility needed to accelerate customer technology innovation.
The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions.
Advisor: Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Intel.
KEY QUOTES:
“Today’s announcement reflects our commitment to sharpening our focus, lowering our expense structure and strengthening our balance sheet. Altera continues to make progress repositioning its product portfolio to participate in the fastest growing and most profitable segments of the FPGA market. We are grateful for Sandra’s strong leadership and lasting impact throughout her 25-year Intel career and wish her continued success as she begins a new chapter. Raghib is a superb executive we selected to lead the business forward based on his vast industry experience and proven track record of success. We look forward to partnering with Silver Lake upon closing of the transaction, as their industry expertise will help to accelerate Altera’s efforts and unlock additional economic value for Intel.”
– Lip-Bu Tan, chief executive officer of Intel
“This investment represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in a scale leader in advanced semiconductors. Together with Raghib, we will be focused on strengthening Altera’s technology leadership position and investing in emerging AI-driven markets such as edge computing and robotics. We look forward to working closely with Intel as a strategic partner who will continue to provide U.S.-based foundry services and complementary engagement with customers.”
– Kenneth Hao, chairman and managing partner of Silver Lake
“I am excited to lead Altera in its next chapter, and this milestone with Silver Lake furthers Altera’s journey to be the world’s No. 1 FPGA solutions provider. Backed by Silver Lake’s strong track record and now with clarity of focus as an independent company, Altera is well-positioned to build on its momentum and deliver breakthrough FPGA-based solutions that are shaping the future of compute driven by AI. I am grateful for the impact Sandra has made and the team she has built as we begin Altera’s next phase of growth.”
– Raghib Hussain
