Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices has closed a deal with two foreign investors that has readied its manufacturing spinoff company for formation, as of Monday, March 2.
Known as the Foundry Company for now, more details about the new entity will be released later in the week. On Feb. 18, AMD shareholders authorized the company to take in billions from Abu Dhbi investors Advanced Technology Investment Company and Mubadala Development Company. ATIC will take a stake in the Foundry and assume $1.1 billion of AMD’s debt, while Mubudala bought 58 million newly-issued AMD shares, with a promise to buy 35 million more.
The closing of the deal not only brings AMD much-needed capital, but has successfully transitioned to its asset light strategy by handing off physical production of microchips to Foundry. ATIC will hold 65.8 percent of Foundry’s shares, though the board of directors will be evenly split between representatives of ATIC and AMD.
Foundry is to build a $4.6 billion manufacturing facility in Malta. It hopes to begin clearing land in the Luther Forest Technology Campus later this month. The facility, now almost three years in the making, is expected to employ 1,465 when it opens in 2011.
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