Ampere Computing An Intel Competitor will launch IPO soon
First confidential SEC paperwork has been filed by Ampere Computing, an Oracle-backed server processing firm.
Ampere, a company headed by former Intel CEO Renée James, could benefit from a public stock market listing after Oracle quietly invested $426 million in Ampere, which is run by James’s company, Ampere Ventures. It is expected that the money will boost Ampere in its quest to carve out a place in the data centre for competitors to Intel and AMD, who now dominate the server market.
Due to Ampere’s use of a confidential listing process, the company is able to proceed with the listing process without disclosing too much about its current activities and financial performance. Prospectuses are filed by some companies, but they never go public or are bought along the route.
Based on accounting regulations, Oracle’s most recent quarterly earnings report claimed that it had acquired a 20% to 50% ownership in Ampere. After Oracle bought an interest in the company, James was no longer considered an independent board member.
Ampere was valued at $8 billion by Bloomberg News in October, but the company didn’t need to raise money at the time, according to the publication.
To compete with Intel and AMD’s x86-based servers, Ampere has developed server chips using the Arm architecture. It’s no surprise that Microsoft and Oracle, two of Ampere’s biggest customers, have committed millions to help it grow and prosper.