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phoenix technology news, september 2, reuters quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that intel ceo henry kissinger and key executives are expected to present a plan to the company's board of directors later this month to divest unnecessary businesses and restructure capital spending to revive the fortunes of the once-dominant chipmaker.

the plan will include ideas to cut overall costs by selling businesses, including its programmable chip unit altera, that intel can no longer afford to fund from the company’s once-massive profits. gelsinger and other top intel executives are expected to present the plan at a mid-september board meeting, according to the same source.

intel declined to comment.

the proposal does not yet include plans to break up intel and sell its contract manufacturing business, or foundries, to a buyer such as taiwan semiconductor manufacturing co., according to the source and another person familiar with the matter. plans for the presentation, including its manufacturing business, have not been finalized and could change before the meeting.

intel has separated its foundry business from its design operations and has been reporting its financial results separately since the first quarter of this year.

the company prohibits the flow of information between its design and manufacturing operations to ensure that potential customers of the design division cannot gain access to technical secrets of customers who use intel's factories, called fabs, to make chips.

intel is going through one of its worst periods as it tries to catch up with rivals like nvidia corp., the dominant ai chipmaker with a market value of $3 trillion, in the age of artificial intelligence. intel’s market value, by contrast, has fallen below $100 billion after its disastrous second-quarter earnings report in august.

the proposals to be presented by kissinger and others are likely to include plans to further reduce the company’s capital spending on factory expansions. the proposal could include pausing or completely halting its $32 billion factory project in germany, which has reportedly been delayed, according to the sources.

in august, intel said it expected to cut capital spending to $21.5 billion by 2025, 17% less than this year, and issued a third-quarter forecast that was lower than expected.

in addition to the plans of the ceo and top executives, intel has hired morgan stanley and goldman sachs to advise the board on which businesses intel can sell and which to keep, according to two sources familiar with the company's consulting plans.

intel has not yet asked for bids for the products unit but is likely to do so once the board approves the plan, according to two sources familiar with the company's consulting plans.

Alteraspin off

the mid-september board meeting is crucial for the one-time king of chipmaking. intel reported a disastrous second quarter in august that included suspending the company's dividend payments and cutting its workforce by 15% in an effort to save $10 billion.

weeks later, chip industry veteran lip-bu tan resigned from the board after months of debate over the company's future, leaving a void in semiconductor business experience on the board, reuters reported.

last thursday, kissinger sought to reassure investors at a deutsche bank conference that the company's financial health was not good, following the reuters report.

“the last few weeks have been difficult,” kissinger said. “we’ve been working through these issues.”

gelsinger said the company takes what investors say “very seriously” and that intel is focused on the second phase of the company’s transformation plan.

parts of those plans will still be unresolved at the mid-september meeting. then the company's directors are likely to make key decisions about which businesses intel will keep and which it will divest.

one potential unit the company could consider selling is its programmable chip business altera, which intel bought for $16.7 billion in 2015. intel has already taken steps to spin it off as a separate but still wholly owned subsidiary and has said it plans to sell a portion of its stake in an initial public offering in the future, though it hasn't set a date.

but altera could also be sold entirely to another chipmaker interested in expanding its product portfolio, and the company has quietly begun exploring whether a sale is possible, according to a source familiar with its consulting plans.

infrastructure chip maker marvell could be a potential buyer in such a deal, according to one of the sources.

bloomberg news earlier reported on intel’s various options, including the possibility of separating intel’s product design and manufacturing businesses, which is expected to be discussed at the board meeting.