Asia Tech Wire (Nov 5) -- Potential acquirers that could bid for a minority stake in Intel's programmable logic device manufacturing unit Altera include Silver Lake and Bain Capital, according to Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter.

The report noted that Intel has initiated the process of the Altera stake sale in recent weeks. Intel bought Altera in 2015 for $16.7 billion.

According to these sources, negotiations are in the early stages, and Intel is preparing to receive initial bids from potential buyers in the next few weeks.

It's not clear how much of Altera's stake Intel will ultimately sell, but the value of any deal is likely to be at least several billion dollars, the people said.

In addition, Francisco Partners, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, has also expressed interest in buying Altera shares.