Intel Corp. Signs Unusual $30 Billion Funding Partnership With Brookfield Asset Management Inc

Intel Corp. has formed an unprecedented $30 billion fundraising partnership with Brookfield Asset Management Inc. to help finance its factory expansion plans, indicating that some major investors are bullish on chip demand in the long run.

The agreement with the publicly traded Canadian asset management firm is the first in what could be a series of such agreements pursued by Intel to support Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger's push to make the company a leading contract chip maker and reclaim its manufacturing advantage over competitors in Taiwan and South Korea. According to Intel Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner, the agreement is a first of its sort for the industry since Intel will cover 51% of the cost of establishing new chip-making facilities in Chandler, Ariz., and will have a majority position in the financing vehicle that will own the new factories. Brookfield will control the remaining shares, and the firms would divide the money generated by the plants, he added.

Infrastructure department, and are increasingly seeping into the semiconductor business due to its expanding capital needs. Brookfield, which manages more than $750 billion in assets, sees the Intel merger as a strong fit with the firm's experience in large and complicated transactions, he added. The decision would save cash, allowing Intel to continue paying dividends, and would eliminate the need for the business to rely more on borrowing to fund its expansion, which might harm its creditworthiness, according to Bernstein Research analyst Stacy Rasgon.