China s regulators clear way for AMD acquisition of Xilinx
Beijing, Feb. 2, 2022
Chinese regulators have approved AMD s $35 billion acquisition of programmable chipmaker Xilinx, paving the way for the deal to close this quarter.
The acquisition, one of the largest in the global chip industry in recent years, was first announced in October 2020. China’s State Administration for Market Regulation approved the deal, subject to certain conditions.
The antitrust regulator ordered AMD not to discriminate against Chinese customers and to maintain its shipments of Xilinx products to China. Xilinx specializes in chips known as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).
The reprogrammable chips are widely used in 5G telecommunications infrastructure, radar systems and military communications. The acquisition is expected to help AMD, which specializes in CPUs and GPUs, better compete with Intel’s Altera FPGA business.