Intel is to sell Wind River, provider of Industrial IoT (IIoT) and embedded software, to global alternative asset firm TPG.

The independent firm will continue to be led by Wind River president Jim Douglas alongside his existing executive management team, with Douglas saying the move will establish Wind River ‘as a leading independent software provider uniquely positioned to advance digital transformation within critical infrastructure segments.’

Intel had paid $884 million for Wind River back in 2009, saying at the time the company would become part of Intel’s strategy ‘to grow its processor and software presence outside the traditional PC and server market segments into embedded systems and mobile handheld devices.’ While leadership in the mobile devices market did not quite become a reality for Intel, the Wind River acquisition represented an interesting move into software at the time.

More recently, Intel’s push into autonomous vehicles has gained ground. Intel acquired Mobileye for $15.3 billion in March last year, having previously partnered with the company alongside BMW. In May, Intel made a series of announcements in the area, from opening an innovation centre in Silicon Valley to an ‘advanced vehicle lab’. Doug Davis, senior vice president, said he had postponed his retirement to lead the initiative, saying there was ‘unwavering confidence’ Intel would succeed in autonomous driving.

Wind River’s customers include NASA JPL, Boeing and BAE Systems on the aerospace and defence side, and Clarion, Siemens and Huawei on the industrial and networking side.

“We see a tremendous market opportunity in industrial software driven by the convergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), intelligent devices and edge computing,” said Nehal Raj, TPG partner and head of technology investing in a statement. “As a market leader with a strong product portfolio, Wind River is well positioned to benefit from these trends.

“We are excited about the prospects for Wind River as an independent company, and plan to build on its strong foundation with investments in both organic and inorganic growth,” added Raj.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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