Qualcomm approached Intel about a takeover in recent days, WSJ reports By Reuters

(Reuters) -Qualcomm made a takeover approach to chipmaker Intel (NASDAQ:) in recent days, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Intel’s shares closed up 3.3%, while Qualcomm (NASDAQ:) fell 2.9%. Qualcomm, with a market capitalization of $188 billion, is worth about twice as much as Intel.

An acquisition would put Qualcomm, known for its cell phone chips, in charge of a storied Silicon Valley business that created the guts of the modern PC but has been struggling to make the switch to chips that support AI.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Qualcomm explored the possibility of acquiring portions of Intel’s design business and that its PC design unit was of particular interest. 

Intel has been attempting to turn its business around by focusing on AI processors and creating a chip contract manufacturing business, known as a foundry.

Once the dominant force in chip-making, Intel has in recent years ceded its manufacturing edge to Taiwanese rival and missed out on the generative AI boom capitalized on by Nvidia (NASDAQ:) and AMD (NASDAQ:). Missteps include passing on an investment in ChatGPT owner OpenAI.

Intel’s stock has slumped 25% since Aug. 1, when it said it would cut over 15% of its workforce and suspend its dividend as it pursues a turnaround.

While Qualcomm and Intel are both major U.S. chipmakers, their business models have significant differences. Qualcomm designs chips using intellectual property licensed from Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:) , and it outsources its manufacturing.

Intel mostly relies on its own architecture and it is among a minority of U.S. chipmakers that manufactures its chips in-house.

Intel declined to comment, while Qualcomm did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

A deal between Qualcomm and Intel was far from certain, the WSJ report said, adding that even if Intel is receptive to an offer from Qualcomm, a deal of that size would attract antitrust scrutiny.

To get the deal done, Qualcomm could intend to sell assets or parts of Intel to other buyers, according to the report.

Analysts and investors have said that Intel was likely to be removed from the index.

Intel’s shares have declined 56% this year, making it the worst performer on the index and leaving it with the lowest stock price on the price-weighted Dow.

Intel’s foundry signed up Amazon (NASDAQ:)’s cloud services unit as a customer for making custom artificial intelligence chips, providing some respite to strained investors.