April 14 (Reuters) - Intel said on Monday it would sell a 51% stake in Altera to private equity firm Silver Lake, valuing the programmable chip unit at $8.75 billion.
The sale will provide Intel a cash boost as the chipmaker aggressively cuts costs to bolster its balance sheet, while it invests in a capital-intensive undertaking to become a contract manufacturer.
Since last year, Intel has taken steps to spin Altera out as a separate unit and said it planned to sell a portion of its stake.
Intel bought Altera for nearly $17 billion in 2015, when then CEO Brian Krzanich was focused on diversify beyond the company's mainstay PC chip business.
Shares of Intel were up 3.9% in premarket trading.
Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur
Source: Reuters