The European Commission has put its stamp of approval on Intel’s proposed $16.7 billion purchase of U.S. semiconductor firm Altera, the regulatory agency announced Wednesday.
The commission found that “the transaction would raise no competition concerns,” citing the presence of alternative semiconductor suppliers that could take Altera’s place in the market to facilitate continued competition with Intel.
“I am glad that we can approve this transaction, which shows that multibillion euro deals in complex industries can be cleared unconditionally after an initial investigation,” Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who is in charge of competition policy, said in a statement. “Our decision demonstrates that relevant deals can be swiftly approved if they raise no competition concern.”
The ruling follows a similar approval from the U.S regulators last month, paving the way for the transaction to move ahead to completion.
The acquisition will help broaden and strengthen Intel’s semiconductor portfolio, which is primarily focused on central processing units (CPUs). Altera currently produces both field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), which fit into the larger category of programmable logic devices (PLDs). According to the commission, Intel can use the FPGAs to “accelerate certain repetitive computing functions” in its CPUs.
Filed Under: Industry regulations