Exclusive-Silver Lake, Bain prepare to bid for multi-billion stake in Intel's Altera unit, sources say

Buyout firms Silver Lake and Bain Capital are among the potential suitors that are likely to compete to acquire a minority stake in Altera, the programmable chips business that Intel acquired for nearly $17 billion in 2015, according to people familiar with the matter. Intel, which has already taken steps to spin Altera out as a separate company, kicked off a process for the stake sale in the unit in recent weeks, the sources said, adding that the talks are at an early stage and the company is preparing to receive initial bids from potential buyers in the coming weeks. Private equity firm Francisco Partners has also expressed interest in a deal for a stake in Altera and is likely to be among the bidders, one of the sources said.