Oracle currently holds a 29% stake in Ampere. Credit: kan_chana/Shutterstock.

Japan’s SoftBank Group is in advanced negotiations to acquire Oracle-backed semiconductor company Ampere Computing, reported Bloomberg citing sources.

The deal, which includes debt, could value the chip designer at approximately $6.5bn.

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A formal agreement may be announced in the coming weeks, though discussions remain subject to potential delays or changes, the sources told the publication.

In January 2025, reports emerged that SoftBank and its majority-owned subsidiary, Arm Holdings, had shown interest in acquiring Ampere.

Founded by former Intel president Renee James, Ampere designs processors for data centre operations using Arm’s technology.

The company’s chips are claimed to be more energy-efficient alternatives to those from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, are used by Oracle, Google, and other major technology companies.

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In 2022, Oracle said it holds a 29% stake in the startup and has the option to make future investments that could give it control of the chipmaker.

The chipmaker was previously valued at more than $8bn in 2021 during a proposed minority investment by SoftBank.

Reports of Ampere considering a sale surfaced in September 2024, with the company engaging a financial adviser to evaluate takeover interest.

In May 2024, Ampere collaborated with Qualcomm to introduce an AI-focused server that integrates Ampere’s CPUs with Qualcomm’s Cloud AI 100 Ultra chips.

In 2023, it launched the AmpereOne processor family, featuring up to 192 single-threaded cores optimised for cloud computing.

AmpereOne features up to 192 single-threaded Ampere cores, believed to be the highest in the industry.

This product marks Ampere’s first use of a custom core developed entirely in-house, expanding its portfolio, which includes Ampere Altra and Ampere Altra Max.