Intel completes Altera acquisition

Intel has completed the acquisition of Altera. Altera will continue as Programmable Solutions Group, a division within the chip company. Intel currently paid more than fifteen billion euros for Altera.

After approval from various governments, including the EU and most recently the Chinese government, the deal can now go ahead, Intel reports. Intel announced at the beginning of June that it would also like to acquire American Altera. Intel promises to continue supporting Altera products, including FPGAs and ARM SOCS.

At $16.7 billion, it is the largest acquisition in Intel history. The chip company hopes to gain a firm foothold in the emerging internet-of-things market through the acquisition. In addition to the Internet of Things, Intel is thinking of data centers as an area where Altera’s fpgas can complement Intel’s own range of chips. In particular, the group mentions customized integrated products with Xeon chips and FPGAs.

Intel hopes to further diversify into chip production with the acquisition. In addition, Intel’s experience in preserving Moore’s Law, and thus roughly reducing the size and efficiency of chips, could have a positive impact on Altera’s products.