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Investing.com-- SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) said on Wednesday that it will acquire server chip maker Ampere Computing for $6.5 billion in cash, with Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) and Carlyle Group Inc (NASDAQ:CG) agreeing to sell their stakes in the company.
Sotbank said the deal was to further its artificial intelligence ambitions, especially as it gears up to build AI infrastructure in the U.S. with OpenAI. Ampere will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Softbank (OTC:SFTBY) and retain its name.
The $6.5 billion is lower than the over $8 billion valuation held by Ampere in 2021, when Softbank had considered taking a minority stake in the firm.
Ampere designs data center chips on Arm’s platform, making it complementary to Softbank, given that the Japanese tech conglomerate owns a majority stake in the British chip designer.
Wednesday’s announcement confirms a slew of February reports that Softbank was close to buying Ampere. The acquisition comes as part of Softbank’s strategy to aggressively invest in AI, as it attempts to capitalize on the fast-growing technology.
Ampere was founded in 2017 by former Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) exec Renee James, and develops data center chips- which are crucial towards running the facilities that power AI programs.
Oracle had in October disclosed a 29% stake in Ampere, and that it had the potential to become a majority shareholder in the firm.