UPDATE 1-Intel terminates plan to buy Tower Semiconductor

(Adds details from the statement in paragraph 1-3, background in paragraph 4)

Aug 16 (Reuters) - Intel said on Wednesday it has terminated its plans to acquire Israeli contract chipmaker Tower Semiconductor as it was unable to get timely regulatory approvals for the $5.4 billion deal.

Intel, which

signed

a deal to buy Tower last year, will pay a termination fee of $353 million to the latter, according to a statement.

Intel, however, did not mention the details about the regulatory approvals.

Reuters had

reported

late on Tuesday citing sources that Intel did not secure approval from Chinese regulators for the acquisition on time as required under the contract.

(Reporting by Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)