Intel announced the acquisition of Tower Semiconductor for $5.4 billion

Intel said Tower Semiconductor, a leading foundry for analog semiconductor solutions, is a highly complementary transaction. Through this acquisition, Intel will significantly advance its IDM 2.0 strategy, further expand its manufacturing capabilities, and provide a richer and differentiated technology portfolio to meet unprecedented industry demands. Tower Semiconductor has its own unique expertise in radio frequency (RF), power, SiGe materials, and industrial sensors. Mature foundry services, extensive IP and electronic design automation (EDA) partnerships, coupled with long-term efforts in mobile, automotive, and power, are enough to allow Intel to provide a more comprehensive service to customers around the world.

“Tower’s specialty technology portfolio, geographic reach, deep customer relationships and services-first operations will help scale Intel’s foundry services and advance our goal of becoming a major provider of foundry capacity globally,” said Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO. “This deal will enable Intel to offer a compelling breadth of leading-edge nodes and differentiated specialty technologies on mature nodes – unlocking new opportunities for existing and future customers in an era of unprecedented demand for semiconductors.”

The deal, which is expected to close within 12 months, has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of Intel and Tower Semiconductor, though it still needs to be approved by Tower Semiconductor’s shareholders, in addition to pending regulatory approvals. Intel’s foundry services division and Tower Semiconductor will remain separate until the deal closes, after which they will merge into a single foundry.