Signage outside the house Intel headquarters in Santa Clara, California, Jan. 30, 2023.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Visuals
Intel on Wednesday terminated its acquisition of Israeli chipmaker Tower Semiconductor, declaring it failed to secure the essential regulatory approval.
The tech huge mentioned in a statement it is scrapping the planned offer “owing to the inability to obtain in a timely way the regulatory approvals needed underneath the merger settlement.”
The U.S. chip large will spend a termination cost of $353 million to Tower.
Intel announced intentions to purchase Tower — a agreement chipmaker that manufactures semiconductors for other corporations — in February 2022 for $5.4 billion.
The offer would have provided Intel a foothold in the specialty technologies on which Tower focuses, like radio frequency and industrial sensors.
Tower Semiconductor shares ended up down 8% close to 4:18 a.m. ET.
Reuters, citing persons familiar with the subject, claimed on Tuesday that Intel did not secure approval for the deal from the Chinese authorities ahead of the deadline handed. Chinese authorities have not publicly communicated approving the buy.
