Is Intel about to make its biggest-ever acquisition?

Newest Innovations In Consumer Technology On Display At 2014 International CES
LAS VEGAS, NV - JANUARY 07: A general view of the Intel booth at the 2014 International CES at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 7, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 10 and is expected to feature 3,200 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to about 150,000 attendees. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
Photograph by David Becker — Getty Images

Chip giant Intel is about to get a little bit bigger.

According to a report Thursday in The New York Post, Intel (INTC) is set to acquire fellow chip maker Altera for $15 billion, or $54 per share.

That’s a 15% premium over Altera’s closing price on Thursday, which came in at $46.97 per share. That’s far higher than the roughly $35 per share Altera was trading at back in March, when rumors of the deal first started to leak.

The news comes soon after Intel competitor Avago (AVGO) announced a $37 billion takeover of rival chipmaker Broadcom, a deal which was finalized on Thursday.

The main attraction of Altera for Intel, observers say, would likely be its ‘field programmable gate arrays’—integrated circuits that are designed so as to let customers or designers configure them after manufacturing. FPGAs are particularly in demand from companies who need them for data centers to run Cloud-based services.

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