Abu Dhabi agreed to buy Singapore's state-controlled Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. for S$2.5 billion ($1.8 billion) to create a challenger to the world's second-biggest maker of customized chips. Advanced Technology Investment Co., an investment company owned by Abu Dhabi, will pay S$2.68 a share in cash, ATIC said in a statement today. The offer, backed by Chartered's largest shareholder, Singapore's Temasek Holdings Pte, is two Singapore cents higher than the chipmaker's closing price on Sept. 4. A purchase would allow Abu Dhabi to combine its Globalfoundries Inc. venture with the maker of chips that run Xbox 360 game consoles, threatening United Microelectronics Corp.'s rank as the second-largest contract manufacturer of semiconductors. Temasek is ending a 22-year investment in unprofitable Chartered, which has eliminated workers and cut overtime to reduce costs. Chartered fell 2.3 percent to S$2.60 at 4:50 P.M. in Singapore. The stock has doubled this year.
