Asia Tech Wire (Oct 18) -- Intel seeks to raise billions of dollars in cash by selling a minority stake in its programmable logic device manufacturing unit Altera, according to CNBC, citing people familiar with the matter.

Thursday's report said Intel made overtures this week to select private equity firms and strategic investors regarding the sale of its Altera stake.

Intel wants the potential deal to value Altera at nearly $17 billion, the people said. Intel bought Altera in 2015 for $16.7 billion.

Just last month, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger also said the company's leadership sees Altera as a core business for Intel going forward.