Report: Qualcomm Made a New Bid to Purchase Intel

The Wall Street Journal reported that Qualcomm has approached Intel about a complete takeover of the company in recent days, escalating a previous bid to acquire only its PC chip design business.

The offer comes in the wake of an Intel plan to turn around the company by spinning off its foundry chipmaking business as a subsidiary. That news was greeted positively by investors, but with Intel still worth less than half its value at the start of the year, it’s still a takeover target. And Qualcomm, valued at about $185 billion, roughly double the value of Intel, could have the financial means to make this happen.

The deal is “far from certain,” at least according to the publication’s multiple sources for this news. And it would be scrutinized by antitrust regulators, especially in the United States, where Intel and its chip-making capacity falls under the national security umbrella. The publication notes, too, that Qualcomm would have to sell parts of Intel or some of its own assets to complete the transaction. Though it has since denied this report, Intel was already said to be considering selling off its stake in Mobileye, a self-driving technology startup.

Here’s what we do know: Were Qualcomm to acquire Intel–by which I mean the core chip design and manufacturing parts of the current company–it would be the largest-ever transaction in the semiconductor market.