The American microchip company Intel – once the undisputed giant of the sector, but now struggling – will spend $14.2 billion to repurchase a 49 percent stake in a factory in Ireland that it had sold two years earlier to the New York private equity fund Apollo Global Management. In 2024, the fund had spent $11.2 billion for that stake.
A CHANGE OF COURSE?
The deal is significant because it could represent the beginning of a change of course for Intel, which in 2025 had focused rather on cost containment: CEO Lip-Bu Tan, in office since March last year, has cut many jobs, suspended expansion plans, and worked on the sale of some activities.
Intel, in fact, is no longer what it used to be: in recent years it has proven unable either to evolve its production technologies or to ride the wave of artificial intelligence, which instead has made companies like Nvidia successful, for example. The survival of the manufacturing division is still at risk, and it is thought that to keep it going the company needs a contract with a major client.
On the other hand, Intel has managed to improve its credibility in the market thanks to a series of investments by the United States government ($9 billion), the Japanese holding SoftBank (2 billion), and the aforementioned Nvidia (5 billion).
INTEL’S PLANS FOR IRELAND
According to Bloomberg, the repurchase of the stake in the Irish factory reflects “Intel’s growing confidence in its operations, as well as the belief that its products can play a more important role in the AI infrastructure spending boom.”
The plant in question, called Fab 34, is located near Dublin and is the company’s main production site in Europe, dedicated to manufacturing computer and server processors. Intel employs about five thousand people in Ireland and last year announced plans to lay off two hundred of them.
Having become the sole owner of the Irish factory again, Intel will be the only one to benefit from any growth in the plant’s revenues and profits. Currently, Fab34 is equipped with Intel 4 and Intel 3 manufacturing technology, but the new 18A technology will be introduced soon.
INTEL’S RESULTS
Intel closed 2025 with $37.4 billion in cash and short-term investments. In the fourth quarter of last year, it repaid $3.7 billion in debt and committed to extinguishing more as they mature in 2026 and 2027.
Last July, Intel announced it had abandoned plans to open factories in Germany and Poland. The company is focusing on the United States, where it is considered important for national security: it is one of the few American companies active both in semiconductor design and manufacturing. If Intel manages to strengthen its manufacturing capabilities, it could help reduce American dependence on foreign producers, particularly the Taiwanese company Tsmc.
