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The news many have been waiting for have now been delivered by AMD. AMD will transfer its manufacturing to a new company co-owned by the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) of Abu Dhabi. AMD contributes with its two fabs locate din Dresden, Germany, and related resources, while ATIC invests $2.1 billion to purchase its stake of the company, whereof $1.4 billion goes directly into the company while the remaining $700 million goes to AMD in exchange for additional shares. The new company is so far just dubbed ”The Foundry Company”.



The Foundry Company inherits $1.2 billion of AMD’s current debt. ATIC will contribute with another minimum of $3.6 billion, up to $6.0 billion, over the next five years to fund the expansion of the chip-making capacity of the fabs. This is foremost for upgrading one of the plants to state-of-the-art technology, as well as an increase in production capacity, and the start of the construction of a new plant in Saratoga County, New York.


On top of this, Development Company will increase its share of AMD from 8,1% to 19.3% by buying 58 million of newly issued stock, for the price of $314 million.


The board members will be equally divided among AMD and ATIC, while AMD will own 44.4% of the company and ATIC the remaining 55.6%. Hector Ruiz and Doug Groose will leave AMD to become the chairman and CEO, respectively, at The Foundry Company.


”The creation of The Foundry Company represents a critical milestone in the evolution of the semiconductor industry,” said Doug Grose, who will be the CEO of The Foundry Company. ”Companies are eager for choice in the supply of leading-edge manufacturing capacity, and our new venture is answering that call. By combining operational excellence, leading-edge technology developed in collaboration with IBM, and an aggressive capacity roadmap, The Foundry Company aspires to drive the next round of innovation in this industry.”


The Foundry Company will join the IBM alliance for SOI (silicon on insulator) and bulk silicon at 22nm.


”We welcome The Foundry Company into the IBM alliance and are pleased to see the company investing in New York,” said Dr. John E. Kelly III, senior vice president and director of Research at IBM. ”The Foundry Company’s membership in the alliance brings new intellectual capital to our collaborative effort and continues to build on the momentum and leadership that the alliance has established in semiconductor technologies.”

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