Intel Could Bid for InterDigital in Wireless Patent Quest

September 9, 2011 5:01 PM EDT

Intel, the world's biggest chipmaker, could be weighing a bid for InterDigital, which put itself up for auction in July, Bloomberg reported.

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The attraction to Intel, or any other buyer, would be InterDigital's 8,800 patents, many pertaining to the wireless sector. InterDigital announced its self-auction in July after seeing the $4.5 billion a syndicate led by Apple and Microsoft paid for wireless patents from Nortel Networks.

InterDigital, based in King of Prussia, Pa., could be valued as high as $5 billion. Its enterprise value is only $2.5 billion, though. Any bidder looks at that lower number.

Other prospective bidders include Samsung Electronics, Sweden's Ericsson and Taiwan's HTC, Bloomberg said.

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A bid by Intel would mark a change because the company previously sold its wireless chip business to Marvell Technology for about $600 million. However, in the era of the tablet, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel has launched what it calls an iBook fund to invest in chips fo tablets and mobile platforms.

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None of the prospective bidders would comment on the report. InterDigital's bankers are Evercore Partners and Barclays Capital.

InterDigital shares closed Friday at $64.28, down 4.2 percent in the overall downturn.

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