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AMD reduces its share in Global Foundries
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Wednesday, December 29, 2010
As part of a new and complex transaction, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) has reduced its stake in GlobalFoundries Inc. from about 30 percent to 14 percent.
In the deal, Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Investment Co. (ATIC) now owns 86 percent of GlobalFoundries, a U.S.-based silicon foundry vendor. Previously, ATIC owned 70 percent. The ATIC is a specialist investment company created by the Government of Abu Dhabi to focus on investments in the advanced technology sector. ATIC’s sole shareholder is the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
In 2009, the chip-manufacturing arm from AMD was spun off into a new foundry company. The foundry spinoff, GlobalFoundries, had been a joint venture between AMD and Abu Dhabi's ATIC. At the time, AMD moved to become a fabless chip maker.
ATIC had planned to boost its stake in GlobalFoundries from about 68 percent to 70 percent. Over time, ATIC is supposed to take the entire stake in GlobalFoundries from AMD. In September, ATIC agreed to acquire Singapore-based Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. for a total of $3.9 billion. Chartered has been folded into GlobalFoundries.
Then, on Dec. 27, 2010, ATIC said that it contributed all of the outstanding ordinary shares of GlobalFoundries Singapore Pte. Ltd., a private limited company organized in Singapore (formerly Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd.) to Globalfoundries Inc., in exchange for 2,808,981 newly issued shares of GF Class A Preferred Shares.
As of the closing of the contribution, AMD's ownership of GlobalFoundries is now approximately 14 percent. AMD's processors are made on a foundry basis by GlobalFoundries. Some of AMD's chips are made by TSMC and others. By reducing its stake in GlobalFoundries, AMD is free to expand its ties with TSMC and others.
Despite a sudden and disturbing lull in the IC market, GlobalFoundries is moving full speed ahead with its aggressive silicon foundry strategy. As part of those efforts, the company recently disclosed plans to devise a 20-nm process and rolled out a new, high-end 28-nm offering. It also announced an intellectual property (IP) deal with ARM Holdings plc and said it is developing technology to enable 3-D chips based on through-silicon-vias (TSVs).
ATMC plans to spend up to $7 billion to build a semiconductor fab in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates,
By: DocMemory
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