(Bloomberg) — Shares of Intel Corp. rose after the Wall Street Journal reported that Qualcomm Inc. had approached the company about a takeover, a potential record deal for the chip industry.
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The discussions took place in recent days, the newspaper said, citing anonymous people familiar with the matter. Representatives for Intel and Qualcomm declined to comment.
Shares rose as much as 9.5% to $23.14 in New York trading on Friday, rebounding from a decline earlier in the day. They had fallen 58% this year through Thursday.
Intel, once the world’s largest chipmaker, is struggling with declining sales and mounting losses. The company’s market value, less than $100 billion, is now about half that of Qualcomm. Still, an acquisition would be the largest transaction ever for the semiconductor market and potentially transform the industry.
Shares of San Diego-based Qualcomm fell as much as 5.5%, reflecting investor concerns about such a deal.
Santa Clara, California-based Intel this week announced a series of changes aimed at getting its business back on track. The moves include a multibillion-dollar deal with Amazon.com Inc. to make a custom AI semiconductor and a plan to spin off Intel’s ailing manufacturing business into a wholly owned subsidiary.
Qualcomm, the largest maker of smartphone processors, was embroiled in a controversial takeover saga more than six years ago, when Broadcom Inc. tried to buy the company. Broadcom backed out of the bid after President Donald Trump blocked the deal, citing national security risks.
(More information about the possible deal can be found in the fourth paragraph.)
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