Intel Said to Be Considering Acquisition of Imagination Technologies

According to recent details in the computer industry, Intel, the Santa Clara, California-based global leading chip maker, is said to be considering the acquisition of Imagination Technologies Group, a company that develops graphics chip technologies. The news comes shortly after the chip maker has just increased its stake in the aforementioned graphics chip developer, from which Intel licenses certain graphics cores.

The giant manufacturer recently declared, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Intel Capital Corp., that it has acquired an additional 934.422 shares in Imagination Technologies Group for a total of 6,934,422 shares in said company. This represents 3.04 percent of total voting rights issued by Imagination Technologies Group.

Intel hasn't stated that it is currently considering the acquisition of the graphics chip technology developer, but the company reserves the right to make a bid for Imagination Technologies in the future. “Intel Corp. reserves the right to announce an offer or a possible offer to acquire the shares in Imagination Technologies Group which it does not already own and/or to take any other action which would otherwise be restricted under Rule 2.8 of the City Code within six months from the date of this announcement if there is a material change in circumstances or in [certain events],” a statement released by Intel with London Stock Exchange reads.

The possibility of the company acquiring Imagination Technologies is rather significant, as the chip maker is known, from its previous actions, to purchase various intellectual property companies. By making the move to purchase Imagination Technologies, Intel will gain several graphics-related technologies, while also solidifying its position in the graphics processor market.

Currently, the chip maker is only providing support for integrated graphics, which it adds through its chipsets. However, Intel is expected to debut a discrete graphics solution, which will come in the form of a multi-core graphics processor, codenamed Larrabee.