Intel Corp, one of the world’s largest makers of computer components, is planning to sell part of its venture capital unit, assets that could be worth as much as US$1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Santa Clara, California-based company is working with UBS Group AG to look for potential buyers for the assets, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.
The portfolio, which is made up of firms across the world, is housed within Intel’s corporate venture unit, Intel Capital, the people said.
Intel restructured its venture capital unit in January with president Arvind Sodhani’s retirement after 35 years with the company. He was replaced by head of mergers and acquisitions Wendell Brooks.
The combination of the teams was designed to unify investment decisions across the firm, Intel said in a statement.
Discussions over the structure of the sale are at an early stage, with Intel open to selling the assets as a whole or divided by geography or sector focus, the people said.
The sale is expected to attract private equity houses that specialize in buying portfolios, known as secondaries firms.
Since its start in 1991, Intel Capital has invested about US$11.6 billion in more than 1,440 companies in 57 countries across a range of sectors including security, wearable technology and digital media, according to the company’s Web site.
Last year, the unit invested US$514 million in 143 companies, split almost evenly between new ventures and follow-on investments.
A spokeswoman for UBS declined to comment. Intel Capital’s Brooks declined to comment.
AI SERVER DEMAND: ‘Overall industry demand continues to outpace supply and we are expanding capacity to meet it,’ the company’s chief executive officer said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported that net profit last quarter rose 27 percent from the same quarter last year on the back of demand for cloud services and high-performance computing products. Net profit surged to NT$44.36 billion (US$1.48 billion) from NT$35.04 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, net profit grew 5 percent from NT$42.1 billion. Earnings per share expanded to NT$3.19 from NT$2.53 a year earlier and NT$3.03 in the first quarter. However, a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar since early May has weighed on the company’s performance, Hon Hai chief financial officer David Huang (黃德才)
The Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show, which is to be held from Wednesday to Saturday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, would showcase the latest in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven robotics and automation technologies, the organizer said yesterday. The event would highlight applications in smart manufacturing, as well as information and communications technology, the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robotics Association said. More than 1,000 companies are to display innovations in semiconductors, electromechanics, industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing, it said in a news release. Visitors can explore automated guided vehicles, 3D machine vision systems and AI-powered applications at the show, along
FORECAST: The greater computing power needed for emerging AI applications has driven higher demand for advanced semiconductors worldwide, TSMC said The government-supported Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has raised its forecast for this year’s growth in the output value of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry to above 22 percent on strong global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. In its latest IEK Current Quarterly Model report, the institute said the local semiconductor industry would have output of NT$6.5 trillion (US$216.6 billion) this year, up 22.2 percent from a year earlier, an upward revision from a 19.1 percent increase estimate made in May. The strong showing of the local semiconductor industry largely reflected the stronger-than-expected performance of the integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing segment,
NVIDIA FACTOR: Shipments of AI servers powered by GB300 chips would undergo pilot runs this quarter, with small shipments possibly starting next quarter, it said Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), which supplies artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp chips, yesterday said that AI servers are on track to account for 70 percent of its total server revenue this year, thanks to improved yield rates and a better learning curve for Nvidia’s GB300 chip-based servers. AI servers accounted for more than 60 percent of its total server revenue in the first half of this year, Quanta chief financial officer Elton Yang (楊俊烈) told an online conference. The company’s latest production learning curve of the AI servers powered by Nvidia’s GB200 chips has improved after overcoming key component
RSS