[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Japan's SoftBank Group is accelerating its AI capabilities by acquiring U.S. semiconductor design company Ampere Computing for $6.5 billion (approximately 9.49 trillion KRW).


On Thursday, SoftBank announced in a press release that its subsidiary, SilverLake Partners, will acquire 100% of Ampere's shares. The deal is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025, pending U.S. regulatory approval. As a result of the acquisition, Ampere will become an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of SoftBank.


According to the Nikkei, Ampere's shares are currently held by U.S. private equity firm Carlyle (59.65%), U.S. software company Oracle (32.27%), and a company related to U.K. semiconductor design firm Arm (8.08%).


SoftBank will acquire the shares through its subsidiary, with the transaction slated to be completed by the end of 2025.


SoftBank acquired Arm, a key part of its AI strategy, in 2016 for approximately 3.3 trillion yen and listed it on the U.S. stock exchange in September 2023.


Bloomberg reported that by acquiring Ampere, SoftBank gains access to one of the few large design teams capable of creating advanced chips that do not belong to another company. With AI infrastructure spending surging recently, chip demand is also skyrocketing. The acquisition of Ampere also provides SoftBank with a way to secure some of the advanced product lines that it could not obtain from Arm.

 

 

 

 

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