Intel leading edge node, no lagging node, Foundry business, no standard foundry support. Viola buy GF, who has legacy node, full compliment of customers and lots of the ecosystem that intel tried and spent years trying to make and failed to deliver in their past attempt at foundry.
But wait what really is GF. The collection of failed IDM and Foundry of IBM, AMD and Charter and a su---r Sugardaddy who pour tons of money into a money losing operation. To this day they have struggled to find a money making business plan even with generous sugardaddy and huge tax breaks from New York, still a failure.
This timing is classic intel, desperate old and rich man looking to buy a wife and finds some ugly discarded and deformed old maid, overpay and when they finally beget the child it'll be late and deformed and enter the world facing a couple high performing foundry that also just outspent them by 10x in world full of surplus of silicon capacity.
Brilliance indeed, what a FUBAR!