Intel's Altera Denies Sale Rumors

In a recent interview, Sandra Rivera, CEO of Altera—a subsidiary of Intel—addressed recent speculation about Intel potentially divesting Altera. Rivera confirmed that Intel has no plans to sell the company and reiterated the goal of an initial public offering (IPO) for Altera by 2026, with a partial sale of Intel's stake still in the works.

Intel acquired FPGA company Altera in 2015 for $16.7 billion and has since operated the business under its Programmable Solutions Group (PSG). On October 3, 2023, Intel announced the decision to spin off the PSG division from its Data Center and AI (DCAI) group, with plans to establish PSG as an independent entity and aim for an IPO within the next 2-3 years. Sandra Rivera was appointed as the leader of this newly independent PSG division.

On February 29, 2024, Intel officially rebranded the FPGA division back to its original name, Altera. Rivera emphasized that while Altera has been operating independently since the start of the year, it remains closely linked with Intel. The process of complete separation is advancing faster than anticipated, with a target completion date set for January 1, 2025.

Rivera highlighted that Altera is focused on providing comprehensive FPGA solutions across the spectrum—from cloud to edge computing. The company's ambition is to become the leading player in the FPGA industry, with the IPO marking a significant milestone in this journey.

With the acquisition of Altera's main competitor, Xilinx, by AMD, and other FPGA companies focusing on niche markets, Altera is poised to seize substantial market opportunities. Rivera noted that despite 80% of the company's sales and over 50% of its demand being driven through channel partners, Altera is intensifying its efforts to explore new markets and enhance its service offerings.