Intel Buys Chip Designer Altera

Computer chip giant Intel Corp. has agreed to buy San Jose, Calif.-based Altera Corp., a maker of programmable communications chips, for $16.7 billion in cash. The companies expect to complete the deal around the end of 2015.

Altera's advanced field-programmable gate array chips are to move data between mobile devices, including connected cars, and servers. The acquisition will give Intel more capabilities in cloud-based technologies.

Analysts note that Intel dominates the market for chips used in servers. But its PC chip business is shrinking as consumers shift from laptops to smartphones. The company, which has worked with Altera on producing some of the latter company's high-end chips, says buying the company outright will enable it to better integrate Altera's operations with its own.