Intel to buy driverless car company Mobileye

ANKARA (AA) - Intel announced Monday that it is taking over its Israeli-based driverless technology partner Mobileye for about $15.3 billion.

The U.S. chipmaker said that under the terms of the acquisition deal, Intel "will commence a tender offer to acquire all of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Mobileye for $63.54 per share in cash, representing a fully-diluted equity value of approximately $15.3 billion and an enterprise value of $14.7 billion".

Intel and Mobileye have been working with German auto giant BMW since last July to make a self-driving car by 2021.

The acquisition is expected to "accelerate innovation for the automotive industry and position Intel as a leading technology provider in the fast-growing market for highly and fully autonomous vehicles", the statement said, adding Intel estimated the vehicle systems, data and services market opportunity to be up to $70 billion by 2030.

The combined group, including Mobileye and Intel's automated driving group, will be based in Israel and managed by Mobileye chairperson and co-founder Amnon Shashua.