[MAC]

As many of you are already, yesterday it was announced that AMD would spin off their manufacturing side into a seperate company in partnership with an Abu Dhabi investment firm.

"In a move to dramatically cut costs and better compete with Intel Corp., chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said Tuesday it will spin off its factories into a new joint venture with investors in the Persian Gulf state of Abu Dhabi.

The deal should shore up AMD's finances and let it focus on the design and development of computer chips. The new venture, to be based in the U.S. and called Foundry Co., will absorb AMD's manufacturing plants, including two in Dresden, Germany.

In conjunction with the spin off, Abu Dhabi's investment arm, Mubadala Development Co., will invest $314-million to more than double its current stake in AMD to 19.3 per cent from 8.1 per cent.

Another entity backed by the Persian Gulf state, Advanced Technology Investment Co., will invest $2.1-billion for a stake in Foundry Co., which also will assume about $1.2-billion of AMD's existing debt. Advanced Technology Investment then plans to contribute between $3.6-billion and $6-billion to Foundry Co. over the next five years to fund the expansion of the company's chip-making capacity. That plan includes the construction of a new facility in Saratoga County, New York."

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