Intel shares climb on report that Qualcomm made takeover approach

By Ian King

Intel Corp. shares climbed after the Wall Street Journal reported that Qualcomm Inc. approached the company about a takeover, a potential record-setting deal for the chip industry.

The discussions occurred in recent days, the newspaper said, citing unnamed people familiar with the situation. Even so, a deal is far from certain, according to the Journal. Representatives for Intel and Qualcomm declined to comment.

The shares rose 3.4 per cent to $21.87 in New York trading Friday, rebounding from a decline earlier in the day. The stock remains down 56 per cent this year.

Intel, once the world’s largest chipmaker, has been struggling with flagging sales and mounting losses — exacerbated by the loss of its technological edge. The company’s market valuation, at $93.5 billion, is now roughly half of Qualcomm’s. Still, a takeover would be the largest-ever transaction for the semiconductor market and potentially transform the industry. 

Shares of San Diego-based Qualcomm declined 2.9 per cent, reflecting investors’ concerns about the risks of such a deal. 

Intel, based in Santa Clara, California, announced a raft of changes this week aimed at getting its business back on track. The moves included a multibillion-dollar deal with Amazon.com Inc. to make a custom AI semiconductor and a plan to turn Intel’s ailing manufacturing business into a wholly owned subsidiary.

Qualcomm is the world’s biggest designer of smartphone processors, but it’s been trying to branch out into more areas. That includes chips that that run personal computers, where Intel is still the dominant player.

Like much of the industry, Qualcomm doesn’t do its own chip production. It outsources manufacturing to partners like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which also makes chips for Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Acquiring Intel could potentially provide Qualcomm with access to its own production in the US, as well as giving it the biggest brand in the market for PCs and traditional server computers.

But Intel’s problems wouldn’t be solved by a Qualcomm takeover. The would-be suitor also has no experience in handling manufacturing or doing the science behind cutting-edge production technology — an area where TSMC excels.

Qualcomm was involved in a contentious takeover saga more than six years ago, when Broadcom Inc. attempted to acquire the company. Broadcom walked away from the bid after President Donald Trump blocked the deal, citing national security risks.