The deal comes as the US government explores a deal to take as much as a 10% ownership stake in the Santa Clara, California, firm.

The investment will make SoftBank Intel’s fifth biggest investor, with the conglomerate paying $23 per share of Intel common stock. Lip-Bu Tan, Intel’s CEO, said in a statement that he “appreciate (s) the confidence (SoftBank) has placed in Intel with this investment.”

A $2 billion investment represents a roughly 2% stake, ranking SoftBank the fifth-largest shareholder of Intel, while a reported 10% stake by the U.S. would be worth about $10.4 billion as of Monday’s share price.