ATIC acquires 86% of Globalfoundries

29 Dec 2010

(MENAFN) Brian Lott, the executive director of communications for the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), said that the company bought more shares in Globalfoundries, a producer of customized microchips, increasing ATIC’s stake in Globalfoundries to 86 percent, reported The National.

Lott added that the former owner of Globalfoundaries, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), is holding the remaining 14 percent. ATIC had formerly owned 65.8 percent stake in Globalfoundries in a deal worth $2.1 billion. This move by the investment firm owned by the Abu Dhabi Government gave the UEA an important position in the microchip industry.

Lott said that the rest of stakes were acquired through a previous deal with Singapore’s Chartered Semiconductor and amounted to $5.6 billion. This deal made Globalfoundries the world’s third-largest semiconductor foundry by revenue.

Lott added that the company invested more $10 billion Globalfoundries. Around a third of investment went to the expansion of facilities in New York and Germany and the rest are going towards building a foundry in Abu Dhabi.

It is worth noting that Abu Dhabi is to build a microchip foundry worth six billion dollars by 2015. The foundry should add $4 billion dollars to the UAE economy and provide around six thousand job opportunities during the next decade.