Intel Capital, the in-house venture capital arm of chipmaker Intel Corp., has canceled a proposed sale of up to $1 billion worth of portfolio companies stakes, according to a blog post published this morning by group head Wendell Brooks.
Intel had never officially acknowledged the sale process, but multiple sources said that the plan was to divest around one-quarter of its 430 active portfolio companies, primarily to reflect Intel Corp.’s (INTC) own changing focus under CEO Brian Krazanich. For example, Intel no longer had much strategic use for consumer technology holdings, whereas it wanted to retain investments in startups that were related to drones, wearables and the Internet-of-things.
From the Brooks blog post:
“In February, I noted we were taking a fresh look at our portfolio to ensure we were best positioned to help our companies grow beyond just financial support. That process is wrapped up, and I am happy to report I inherited a terrific portfolio… Despite what you may have read or heard, we are not planning any major changes to Intel Capital’s portfolio. While, like all investors, we’ll continue to actively manage our investments, I intend to keep and support the portfolio I inherited.”
As of yesterday afternoon, several secondary market sources ― including three that had interest in purchasing either all or part of the offered portfolio ― believed the process (managed by UBS) was still active, with one referring to it as being in the “middle innings.”
In his blog post, Brooks also said that there would be some upcoming Intel Capital employee departures, and announced three new investments: Lumiata, a provider of healthcare risk management and patient care coordination via AI; ProGlove, a German maker of smart gloves that capture factory worker data; and Maana, a high-speed enterprise analytics platform.
An Intel spokeswoman declined to comment beyond what was in the post.