Intel known as the computing giant has confirmed the acquisition of leading autonomous driving technology provider Mobileye for $15.3 billion. Intel first partnered with Mobileye then it acquired it fully. This is the biggest ever acquisition of a tech company in Israel’s history.According to the agreement’s terms and conditions an auxiliary company of Intel is going to initiate a tender offer that will get hold of all the outstanding and issued shares of Mobileye for $63.54 per share in cash with $15.3 billion as the fully diluted equity value – according to the company statement the enterprise value is estimated to be $14.7 billion. Intel says the deal will close in nine months.Technologies like sensor fusion, front- and rear-facing camera tech and mapping are the existing services Mobileye has today.The services that are to begin in 2018 include driving policy intelligence underlying driving decisions and crowd sourcing data for high-definition maps. This deal has benefitted Intel in two major ways: now they have grip on larger range of tools that go into independent driving systems but also the enhancement of relations with the automakers. Amnon Shashua the CTO and co-founder of Mobileye have said our company is currently working with 27 car manufacturers. They are doing 10 production programs with Giants like BMW, Audi and others.In a statement Brian Krzanich the CEO of Intel stated that the acquisition is a great step for the automotive industry, its consumers and especially for our shareholders. Intel like always has provided foundational technologies which are critical in nature like driverless driving which includes plotting car’s path and real-time driving decisions.“Mobileye has the best automotive computer vision and strong relations with automaker and suppliers. We can move the future of autonomous driving technology in low3 cost for automakers in an upgraded performance through cloud to car solution.”Mobileye co-founder CEO and President Ziv Aviram said that “the acceleration towards the future of autonomous driving will be transformative. Consumers are going to enjoy the benefits of more flexible, safe and less costly transportation, this will also provide automaker customers with opportunities of incremental business models.”Adding more Ziv Aviram said “now it’s easy for us to accelerate and enhance our combined knowledge in the respective areas of hardware, virtual driving, simulators, data centers, mapping, development tool chains and other computing platforms. By combining together we are going to present for auto motive industry with an attractive value preposition.”Providing base to the initial reports Intel confirmed that Prof. Amnon Shashua, Mobileye’s CTO and co-founder will have the responsibilities of leading autonomous driving division, which is going to be based in Israel. Intel’s SVP, Doug Davis will have the extra responsibility of overseeing the combined working of Intel and Mobileye and will report the summary to Amnon Shashua.Intel and Mobileye have been working together since last year. At the start of this year they combined with BMW for testing of 40 drivers fewer cars which were equipped with both the company’s technologies. Mobileye also partnered Tesla for its driver less technology but this combination couldn’t go far in the presence of controversial undertone regarding few of the safety measures from Tesla.Other than this partnership with Mobileye in the field of cars is the acquiring of Yogitech and Itseez for the gaining of safety and navigational functionalities in driver less cars with a deal of $250 million. Intel has always made its presence felt in the auto shows and launched a dedicated group for autonomous driving in November headed up by Doug Davis, who will now be reporting to Mobileye’s CTO.Mobileye got a landmark registration on NASDAQ in 2014 and currently sits on a total market value of 10.5 billion. According to sources it has traded more than 33 percent ahead of the market opening, but on Friday’s trades it had moved only 0.83 percent.Intel as we all know has been a leader in processors since the era of PCs peaked, although it has fought hard for its place as Smartphones took over the larger screens and became the loved choice of consumers.As we see the motive of entering the self driven technology by Intel is a part of the larger strategy which is to build its position in the diverse and emerging areas of computing. Other heights that Intel has planned include (IoT), virtual and augmented reality. Intel is moving on these lines through gaining acquisitions and growing organically.The combination of these two is surely going to speed up the innovation in the automation industry and will enable Intel to position itself as the top technology provider in the ever advancing market of fully autonomous vehicles. Intel has estimated the data, vehicle systems and market opportunity in services sector to reach a staggering amount of $70 billion by the end of 2030. This transaction will enable Intel to invest in data-intensive market and will strengthen the company in fields like computing and cloud connectivity, from the network to the device.Intel has also unveiled some other acquisitions in the country to fulfill the strategy that includes a deal with Ginger Software for buying a personal assistant platform then the buying of gesture-based technologies from Omek Interactive and lastly the acquisition of 3D video from Replay Technologies.Intel has not been the only one that has started investing and acquiring startups in the field of computer vision. Earlier today a giant in automotive parts Valeo announced the acquisition of Gestigon, a German startup that was developing in-car 3D image processing software. This software was used not only to communicate with the driver but also to collect signals from the driver and within the car for communication with a self driving car for the purpose of what to do next.Terms and conditions of the deal which included IP and the staff were not made public. Valeo is investing regularly in autonomous driving technology for quite some time making a name for it. For instance it has invested in Navya-a French autonomous shuttle company and has also invested to get a license in California for testing of self-driving cars. The latest acquisition is a proof of its serious commitment of excelling and doing more in this field.
