Investing.com– SoftBank and its British chip designing unit Arm are considering a potential takeover of Oracle-backed semiconductor firm Ampere Computing, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday evening.
Speculation over the deal comes as Ampere explores strategic options, including a potential sale, Bloomberg reported.
Reports in September showed Ampere, which is privately owned, was considering a potential sale. Ampere develops Arm-based processors for applications across a wide variety of fields, most notably data centers, and was founded by ex Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) President Renee James in 2017.
The company’s data center chips have come into increased focus in recent years with the artificial intelligence boom, which saw heightened capital spending on data center infrastructure to power AI programs.
Ampere has a partnership with Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL). The cloud firm holds a nearly 30% stake in Ampere, and also has an option to buy it.
Beyond Oracle, Ampere has partnerships with several major tech companies, including Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), to develop chip technology geared towards heavy workloads, especially those from AI programs.
Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) benefited from the AI boom, having marked a stellar IPO in late-2023 on AI fueled demand. The chip designer is a key part of the global semiconductor supply chain, given that its platform powers a variety of chips, especially in mobile devices.
Arm’s parent, SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984), has also seen a surge in the value of its tech holdings on the AI boom. The Japanese tech conglomerate has vowed to aggressively step up its investment in the fast-growing AI industry.