(Reuters) -SoftBank Group is taking a $2 billion equity stake in Intel ( INTC ), the two companies said on Monday, amid a ramp-up in efforts to provide financial support to the struggling U.S. chipmaker.

The Japanese investment company will pay $23 per share for Intel ( INTC ) common stock, they said in a joint statement. SoftBank would become the sixth largest investor in Intel ( INTC ), according to LSEG data.

SoftBank's investment will come via a primary issuance of common stock by Intel ( INTC ), and, based on the U.S. company's market capitalisation at close of trading on Monday, would represent an equity stake of just under 2%, an Intel ( INTC ) spokesperson said.

Bloomberg News reported earlier on Monday that the U.S. government is in talks to take a 10% stake in Intel ( INTC ). This comes after U.S. President Donald Trump called for the resignation of the company's CEO Lip-Bu Tan earlier this month.

Media reports had said last week that the U.S. government may buy a stake in Intel ( INTC ), after a meeting between Tan and Trump that was sparked by the U.S. president's demand for the Intel ( INTC ) chief's resignation over his ties to Chinese firms.

SoftBank declined to provide more details on the Intel ( INTC ) investment when asked to comment by Reuters.

It would be the latest in the Japanese company's run of mammoth investment announcements in 2025, which include committing $30 billion to ChatGPT maker OpenAI as well as leading the financing for Stargate, a $500 billion data centre project in the U.S.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru, Max Cherney in San Francisco and Anton Bridge in Tokyo; Additional reporting by Angela Christy in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel; Alan Barona and Muralikumar Anantharaman)