Apple is reportedly in 'advanced talks' to acquire a British chip designer worth £600 million

Apple is in "advanced talks" to acquire British chip design company Imagination Technologies, according to ArsTechnica.

Citing a source with knowledge of the discussions, ArsTechnica said Apple is interested in the company's PowerVR line of graphics processing units (GPUs).

Imagination Technologies, founded just outside London in 1985 and now listed on the London Stock Exchange, already counts Apple as its third biggest shareholder.

Apple announced in 2008 that it had acquired 3.6% of the London Stock Exchange-listed company, which has a market cap of £600 million, before increasing that figure to 9.5% in 2009. Intel also held a significant number of shares in the Hertfordshire-based company at one point (up to 16%) but sold the last of them off in February 2015.

Last week Imagination Technologies announced that longtime CEO Hossein Yassaie was stepping down and that an additional 200 jobs were being cut on top of 100 that had already been announced.

Business Insider has contacted Apple and Imagination Technologies but both companies are yet to respond.