Arm-based server chipmaker Ampere is going public

Ampere, a maker of Arm-based server chips, recently started the process to become a publicly traded company. The proposed initial public offering (IPO) needs to go through a review process by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The filing was made to the SEC on a confidential basis, but Ampere shared an announcement about it, which is required as part of the process.

The server space is largely made up of x86 chips from companies such as Intel and AMD. Ampere provides Arm-based processors for servers, which promise better efficiency. Microsoft recently added preview support for Ampere Altra Arm-based processors, which should deliver “up to 50 percent better price-performance than comparable x86-based VMs,” according to Microsoft.

Ampere’s press release announcing the filing is relatively brief and scarce on details:

Ampere Computing announced that it had submitted a draft registration statement on a confidential basis to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) for a proposed initial public offering of common stock. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. Ampere expects to complete the public offering following the SEC review process, subject to market and other conditions.

While there are several competitors to Ampere in the server space, Ampere is the only company that makes commercial Arm-based CPUs for servers at this time, according to Gartner’s Alan Priestly (via The Register). Intel and AMD’s server chips are x86-based.

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