Intel is not going to sell Altera, but still intends to bring it to an IPO

The need to cut costs and Intel’s need to obtain multi-billion dollar financial resources have given rise to a considerable number of rumors about a possible restructuring of the processor giant. Among them, the possibility of selling a subsidiary of Altera, which develops programmable matrices, was also discussed. The head of this division denies such rumors, speaking of intentions to enter an IPO.

Image Source: Intel

The CEO of the still Intel-dependent Altera, Sandra Rivera, told CRN in an interview: “We are pursuing a plan that does not include selling Altera outright, but selling a stake in this business, as was planned from the very beginning, which We’ve been talking for over a year now, with an IPO coming in 2026.” The current plan involves the sale of a stake in Altera’s business and subsequent preparation for an IPO, which is scheduled for 2026. According to Rivera, there are now “a lot of things being written that are not true and are not coming from anyone familiar with what is actually happening.”

By the first of January next year, Altera will complete its functional separation from Intel, but the corresponding processes are already ahead of schedule. Altera management supports Intel’s idea to sell its stake in this business. The first of the companies is now preparing for such a transaction. Going public (IPO) remains an important milestone in Altera’s continued development. In the long term, the company also wants to remain an industry leader. Recall that Intel bought Altera in 2015 for $16.7 billion, and the whole question is when and under what conditions an IPO will help justify past costs. Since last year, Intel began to structurally separate Altera in order to prepare it for an IPO by 2026. The corresponding intentions were made public in October last year. In February of this year, Intel announced the resurrection of the Altera brand itself, since after being absorbed by the parent company it became one of Intel’s divisions without a personal name. The structure was simply called Programmable Solutions Group and was part of Intel Corporation. After the IPO, the latter expected to retain the bulk of Altera’s shares. Whether intentions have changed now is not specified.

Competitor Xilinx was absorbed by AMD in 2022, so Altera’s return to the market as a completely independent player has a certain symbolic meaning for the company’s management.