Report: Qualcomm probes Intel take-over

Qualcomm has approached Intel about a possible friendly take-over, according to several media. Qualcomm’s interest is said to focus on all of Intel’s design units and not include the manufacturing business. Intel has recently announced a full separation of the Product and Foundry unit. Though no formal offer has been made and a deal is far from certain, the personal involvement of CEO Cristiano Amon in the negotiations underlines Qualcomm’s intentions.

Separately, Apollo Global Management has offered to invest up to 5 billion dollars in Intel, Bloomberg reports. The potential investment could affect the discussions with Qualcomm, including stopping them in their tracks.

Arm-champion Qualcomm has made several attempts to encroach on Intel’s X86-based market share in client PC and data center processors. In its most serious attempt yet, a range of Windows PCs powered by the Arm-based Snapdragon X product line was launched this month. A push in the server market based on similar chips is reportedly being prepared.

Any deal between Qualcomm and Intel would face close scrutiny from antitrust regulators worldwide. Since several high-profile acquisitions, including a Broadcom bid for Qualcomm, have been shot down, many industry insiders consider megadeals not worth the trouble. A complication in the Qualcomm-Intel romance, as pointed out by The Register, is that cooperation is required from AMD, with which Intel has a cross-licensing X86 patent agreement that’s automatically terminated after a change of control at either company.