Intel invests in VMware

It was announced yesterday that Intel, as part of its venture capital program, Intel Capital is investing $ 218.5 million in VMware. Intel will acquire 9.5 million Class A shares at the rate of $ 23 per share, which, after a quick issuance of shares to the primary market, will give Intel about 2.5% of the company's shares. Because VMware shares are divided into Class A shares with less voting rights and Class B shares, Intel will not have many votes in the company, but will get a seat on the board of directors.

Intel has several good reasons to grab VMware right now. First, VMware is the market leader in virtualization. Secondly, VMware expects most likely a successful open offering of shares, given their importance in this market, taking into account its conditions. Intel can make a lot of money on this. Third, Intel will be successful, because it sees that any developers of virtualization solutions for x86-compatible computers are successful because stone manufacturers will sell a lot of hardware to create a virtualization market that is independent of who wins the software market.

All of these reasons, plus a seat on the board, were probably the main factors in Intel’s decision to invest in VMware. Only one question remains: what happens when Microsoft not only competes with VMware management functionality, but also integrates its virtualization tools into Windows?