Report: Intel Deal For Altera Could Be On Again

Altera Corporation ALTR opened sharply higher Friday on a rumor it might get acquired for $15 billion by Intel Corporation INTC.

Citing "a source close to the situation," the New York Post said a bid at $54 a share is likely by the end of next week.

Altera shot up as much as 6.7 percent, hitting a 52-week high of $49.83 on the news, before falling back to $48.90 recently.

Also in the Post report: Intel won't make a counterbid against Avago Technologies Ltd. AVGO according to an unidentified source.

Avago on Thursday agreed to acquire Broadcom Corporation BRCM for $37 billion in cash and stock.

Broadcom traded recently up $0.70 at $56.95; Avago rose $3.65 to $146.05.

Altera last month rejected an offer of about $54 a share from Intel, according to reports at the time.

"But that was before Altera issued disappointing earnings" April 23, the Post noted.

Intel, with a market capitalization of $164.64 billion, is best known for supplying chips for personal computers.

Altera, currently with a market cap of $14.75 billion, supplies field-programmable gate arrays, or FPGAs, which are configured by the customer and put to a a wide array of uses including in mobile devices.

A possible acquisition of Altera by Intel was reported in March by The Wall Street Journal.