Rumor mill: It looks as if another multi-billion-dollar tech acquisition is in the works. Following Nvidia's $40 billion acquisition of ARM, Intel is reportedly in talks to purchase semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries for about $30 billion.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the talks don't appear to include GlobalFoundries executives. The US-based company, spun off from AMD in 2008, is owned by Mubadala Investment Co., an investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger back in March announced a major strategy shift for Intel with the IDM 2.0 (integrated device manufacturing) strategy. The company's expansion plans include a $20 billion investment to build two new fabs in Arizona. It also announced the opening of both its current and planned manufacturing capacity to other chipmakers through the launch of Intel Foundry Services. Acquiring GlobalFoundries would be a big part of IDM 2.0.

Largest tech deals in history

Company Acquisition Price Year
Dell EMC $64 billion 2015
Avago Broadcom $37 billion 2015
IBM Red Hat $34 billion 2018
Softbank ARM Holdings $31.4 billion 2016
Intel? GlobalFoundries? $30 billion? 2021?
Microsoft LinkedIn $26.2 billion 2016

TrendForce ranks GlobalFoundries, which has several fabs in the US, as the number four semiconductor manufacturer in the world with seven percent of all foundry business by revenue. It recently announced a $4 billion investment to greatly expanded capacity at its existing chip fabrication plant in Singapore. Rather than embracing the "smaller is better" philosophy, the company focuses on adding new capabilities and features to chips built at larger (12nm and over) transistor sizes.

GlobalFoundries has been reportedly seeking an IPO, something the Intel acquisition would scupper. If, however, the deal doesn't go ahead, the IPO could still happen later this year.

When asked about the deal, an Intel spokesperson said: "We will decline to comment on rumor and speculation."