Nvidia outbids Intel to buy Israel's Mellanox in data center push

US chipmaker Nvidia Corp said on Monday it will buy Israeli chip designer Mellanox Technologies Ltd for $6.8 billion, beating rival Intel Corp in a deal that would help the company boost its data center business.

The all-cash offer of $125 per share represents a premium of 14 percent to Mellanox’s Friday close. Shares of Mellanox rose 8.7 percent and Nvidia shares rose about 1 percent in premarket trading, according to Reuters.

The deal follows a competitive bidding process, which according to sources familiar with the matter included rival chipmakers such as Intel. CNBC reported in November that Xilinx Inc too was also part of process.