Arm and its owners SoftBank are reportedly looking to acquire Ampere Computing.
According to a report from Bloomberg, “strategic options” are being explored with regards to a proposed takeover.
SoftBank first expressed an interest in acquiring Ampere in 2021. However, after the chipmaker filed for an IPO the following year and documents revealed that Oracle had invested in the company to the tune of $426 million, SoftBank did not move forward with the purchase.
Oracle has since invested $600 million in convertible debt in Ampere during the fiscal year ending on May 31, 2024, and $400m in the 2023 fiscal year. In September 2024, Oracle announced it owned 29 percent of Ampere, with its debt financing set to mature in January 2026.
That same September, it was reported that Ampere was working with a financial advisor to explore a potential sale.
Founded in 2017 by CEO Renée James and a group of her former Intel colleagues, Ampere designs chips specifically for servers based on the Arm architecture, which has grown in popularity among data center operators in recent years.
Initially based on Arm’s Neoverse blueprints, Ampere now designs its newest range, Ampere One, with entirely in-house Arm cores.
Arm, Ampere, and SoftBank all declined Bloomberg’s requests for comment.