Last February, Intel reached an agreement with Tower Semiconductor to acquire the assets of the Israeli-headquartered contract chipmaker. The deal worth $5.4 billion was planned to be closed in 12 months, but now the thirteenth is already underway, and there is still no result. Due to waiting for the decision of the Chinese antimonopoly authorities, the approval period had to be extended until the end of the second quarter.
Image Source: Intel
The Israeli representation of Intel was forced to make a corresponding statement, according to Tom’s Hardware, citing the local press. Every effort is being made to finalize the deal with Tower Semiconductor by the end of next week, but there is still a possibility that everything will be ready only by the end of the first half of the year. Chinese regulators are notorious for their lengthy approval procedures, and it’s not a fact that the long periods of studying the terms of Intel’s deal with Tower Semiconductor indicate the determination of the Chinese authorities to block it.
Apparently, some uncertainty of the Intel management in the outcome of this transaction is also expressed by the recent personnel appointment – the contract manufacturing business of Intel Foundry Service components was headed by Stewart Pann, who has no experience in the profile, but has been an employee of the corporation since 1981. Until now, it was believed that someone from the management of Tower Semiconductor could apply for this post, since the purchase of an Israeli contract manufacturer as one of the goals pursued Intel’s experience in doing business in this area.
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