SoftBank seals $6.5 billion deal for chip designer Ampere

Ampere is one of a group of companies that tried to use Arm technology, which dominates in mobile phones, to create a niche in the lucrative data center chip business.

SoftBank Group Corp. has agreed to acquire semiconductor designer Ampere Computing LLC in a move that further broadens the Japanese investment firm’s push into artificial intelligence infrastructure.

SoftBank is buying Ampere in an all-cash transaction that values the Santa Clara, California-based firm at $6.5 billion, according to a joint statement Wednesday confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg News.

The deal for Ampere, whose early backers included Oracle Corp. and private equity firm Carlyle Group Inc., adds to a wave of chip companies looking to capitalize on a spending boom in artificial intelligence. Bloomberg News reported in February that SoftBank was in advanced talks to acquire Ampere.

Oracle and Carlyle are selling their stakes in Ampere as part of the deal, which is expected to close in the second half of 2025. Ampere will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank, retaining both its name and Santa Clara headquarters.

Ampere makes processors for data center machinery including technology used by chip designer Arm Holdings Plc, which is majority-owned by SoftBank. Ampere, founded by former Intel Corp. executive Renee James, was valued at more than $8 billion in a proposed minority investment by Japan’s SoftBank in 2021, Bloomberg News reported at the time.

“We are excited to join SoftBank Group and partner with its portfolio of leading technology companies,” James, Ampere’s chief executive officer, said in the statement. “This is a fantastic outcome for our team, and we are excited to drive forward our AmpereOne road map for high-performance Arm processors and AI.”

The chips market has grown more competitive since then, with several large tech companies rushing to develop the same kinds of products that Ampere makes.

In acquiring Ampere, SoftBank is getting access to one of the few large design teams for the types of advanced chips used in data centers that isn’t already part of another company. It’s doing that as demand for those chips explodes amid runaway spending on AI infrastructure. SoftBank also is looking for a way to increase its ability to capture some of that spending with advanced product offerings it doesn’t already have — even through Arm.

Ampere is one of a group of companies that tried to use Arm technology, which dominates in mobile phones, to create a niche in the lucrative data center chip business. Most of those have failed or been acquired. Ampere’s acquisition by SoftBank keeps that push alive. The company has touted its chips as being much more power efficient at a time when the massive drain on resources of large data centers is making them increasingly difficult to build and run.

Arm is itself looking to move from being a provider of a layer of technology to a seller of more complete solutions that it can fetch a higher price. For Ampere, the migration to being part of a larger company will give it access to resources and possibly a larger set of customers that will make the economics of chip design work.

“The future of artificial super intelligence requires breakthrough computing power,” SoftBank Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said in the statement. “Ampere’s expertise in semiconductors and high-performance computing will help accelerate this vision, and deepens our commitment to AI innovation in the US.”