Chipmaker Altera, backed by private equity firm Silver Lake and Intel (INTC), has filed for an initial public offering that could reportedly raise over $2 billion. Altera said today that it had confidentially submitted a draft registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) but that the number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. It said that the IPO remains subject to the completion of the SEC review process, as well as market and other conditions.
Altera the Innovator
The company makes programmable chips for applications including artificial intelligence, industrial automation and robotics. Its products are found in data centers, telecommunications networks, industrial equipment, aerospace and defense systems.
It was founded in Silicon Valley in 1983, and according to its website, unveiled in 1984 “the world’s first programmable logic device capable of being programmed, erased, and reprogrammed altering the future of innovation.” Chip giant Intel acquired the company in 2015 for around $16.7 billion. Silver Lake acquired a 51% stake in Altera last year, with MGX, an Abu Dhabi-backed investment company, joining the deal later.
According to media reports the IPO could raise over $2 billion and happen sometime this year. That would make it one of the largest semiconductor listings in recent years. Indeed, it would be the largest since Arm Holdings’ (ARM) $5 billion IPO in 2023.
AI’s IPO Bonanza
Silver Lake has brought in Barclays, Citi (C), JPMorgan (JPM) and Morgan Stanley (MS) as underwriters for the IPO. However, more banks are still to join.
It comes at a time of huge excitement around upcoming IPOs from the likes of AI innovators such as Anthropic and OpenAI. However, it may also be seen as a test of continued investor appetite in AI given highly publicized warnings about its potential impact on humanity.
What Other IPOs are on the Way?
Let’s look at what other IPOs are on the way with our TipRanks IPO calendar.
