US computer chip giant Intel has agreed to buy Israeli car technology firm Mobileye in a deal worth more than $15 billion (14 billion euros), the companies said in a statement on Monday.
Israeli media reported that the deal was the largest ever cross-border acquisition for an Israeli tech firm. Intel and Mobileye have been collaborating with German automaker BMW to develop self-driving cars.
The statement said the deal was worth approximately $15.3 billion.
“The combination is expected to accelerate innovation for the automotive industry and position Intel as a leading technology provider in the fast-growing market for highly and fully autonomous vehicles,” it said.
“Intel estimates the vehicle systems, data and services market opportunity to be up to $70 billion by 2030.”
Last year, BMW announced that it was joining forces with Mobileye and Intel on a self-drive project for “highly and fully automated driving” to be commercially available by 2021.
BMW announced in January it would deploy 40 self-driving vehicles for tests in the United States and Europe.
In August, Mobileye and UK-based auto-equipment maker Delphi said they were teaming up to develop an autonomous driving system which would be ready for vehicle-makers in 2019.
Mobileye, which also develops systems for accident avoidance, has concluded an agreement with Volkswagen on road data technology as well.
The Israeli firm was founded in 1999.
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