Broadcom, TSMC Weigh Possible Intel Deals That Would Split Storied Chip Maker

Broadcom has interest in Intel's chip-design business, while TSMC is looking at the company's factories

- Asa Fitch, Lauren Thomas & Yang Jie

Intel's rivals Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Broadcom are each eyeing potential deals that would break the American chip-making icon in two.

Broadcom has been closely examining Intel's chip-design and marketing business, according to people familiar with the matter. It has informally discussed with its advisers making a bid but would likely only do so if it finds a partner for Intel's manufacturing business, the people said.

Nothing has been submitted to Intel, the people cautioned, and Broadcom could decide not to seek a deal.

Separately, TSMC has studied controlling some or all of Intel's chip plants, potentially as part of an investor consortium or other structure, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Broadcom and TSMC aren't working together, and all of the talks so far are preliminary and largely informal.

But the potential deals would have been unthinkable until Intel's recent struggles made it an acquisition target. The end result could be a breakup of Intel after the American icon spent many decades dominating the business of making central processors for both personal computers and data centers.

Splitting the company would also bring it in line with an industrial shift in recent decades toward specializing in either manufacturing or designing chips, but not both.

Frank Yeary, the interim executive chairman of Intel, has been leading the discussions with possible suitors and Trump administration officials, who are concerned about the fate of a company seen as critical to national security, people familiar with the matter said.

Yeary has been telling individuals close to him that he is most focused on maximizing value for Intel shareholders, the people said.