Intel sells majority stake in Altera to Silver Lake investors in a deal valued at $8.75 billion

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Intel announced Monday that it was selling the majority of its Altera chip business to technology investor Silver Lake in a deal valued at $8.75 billion.

Silver Lake will own 51% of Altera, which Intel acquired in 2015 for $16.7 billion in an effort to expand its business into chip markets focused on wireless, automobiles and other products. At the time, it was the biggest deal in Intel Corp.'s history.

Intel spun Altera off into an independent company earlier this year. Silver Lake's acquisition of Altera is expected to close in the second half of this year.

“Today’s announcement reflects our commitment to sharpening our focus, lowering our expense structure and strengthening our balance sheet,” said Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan. ”We look forward to partnering with Silver Lake upon closing of the transaction, as their industry expertise will help to accelerate Altera’s efforts and unlock additional economic value for Intel." Tan joined Intel as CEO just one month ago.

Intel also announced that Raghib Hussain will succeed Sandra Rivera as chief executive officer of Altera, effective in early May.

Intel shares were up 3.2% just after the opening bell Monday.

The broader technology sector was boosted Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday said he was exempting smartphones, computers and some other electronics from some of his stiff tariffs.

Trump then spent Sunday downplaying the significance of exemptions that reduce but won’t eliminate the effect of U.S. tariffs on imports of popular consumer devices and their key components.