US chip giant Intel has agreed to acquire Israeli driverless technology company Mobileye in a deal worth about $15.3bn.
Intel has agreed to pay about $63.54 per share under the deal, which is expected to close by the end of this year.
The board of directors of the two companies have also given their consent for the deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals.
Intel plans to integrate its computing technology with the computer vision technology developed by Mobileye.
The acquisition will combine technology from the two companies that include connectivity, computer vision, data centre, sensor fusion, high-performance computing, localization and mapping, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
According to Intel, the vehicle systems, data and services for the autonomous driving market could be worth $70bn by 2030. With Mobileye’s acquisition, it could get a step closer towards the development of fully autonomous vehicle.
The acquisition is also being hailed as one of the largest for a company that is dedicated to autonomous driving.
The two companies expect to provide driving solutions that they say will transform the automotive industry. The combined global autonomous driving organization will feature Mobileye and Intel’s automated driving group.
The organization will be headquartered in Israel and will lead by Mobileye’s co-founder, chairman and chief technology officer Amnon Shashua.
It will work on the existing programmes in two companies, while building relationships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the automotive sector, tier-1 suppliers and semi-conductor partners to develop driving assist, highly autonomous and fully autonomous driving programmes.
Intel senior vice president Doug Davis will oversee the combined organization’s engagement across Intel’s business groups and will report to Amnon Shashua after the transaction’s closing.
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said: “This acquisition is a great step forward for our shareholders, the automotive industry and consumers.
“Intel provides critical foundational technologies for autonomous driving including plotting the car’s path and making real-time driving decisions. Mobileye brings the industry’s best automotive-grade computer vision and strong momentum with automakers and suppliers.
“Together, we can accelerate the future of autonomous driving with improved performance in a cloud-to-car solution at a lower cost for automakers.”
Mobileye co-founder, president and CEO Ziv Aviram said: “We expect the growth towards autonomous driving to be transformative. It will provide consumers with safer, more flexible, and less costly transportation options, and provide incremental business model opportunities for our automaker customers.
“By pooling together our infrastructure and resources, we can enhance and accelerate our combined know-how in the areas of mapping, virtual driving, simulators, development tool chains, hardware, data centres and high-performance computing platforms. Together, we will provide an attractive value proposition for the automotive industry.”
