Aug 18 (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)