US chipmaker AMD plans to restructure its German-based manufacturing operation in Dresden in a move that would split its design and manufacturing operations into two separate companies, the company said Tuesday, according to dpa. The loss-making company said it plans to form a new joint venture, which will receive up to 6 billion dollars in funding from an investment company in Abu Dhabi. The funds will enable AMD to expand its Dresden operation and build a state-of-the art plant in Albany, New York in a bid to make it more competitive against market leader Intel. Those plants will be the centerpiece of a new company, tentatively called the Foundry Company, in which Advanced Technology Investment Co (ATIC), an Abu Dhabi-based firm, will hold 55.6 per cent. It will be 44.4 per cent owned by AMD. ATIC has pledged an immediate investment of 2.1 billion dollars with a further 3.6 billion to 6 billion dollars available for further development. The fabrication plants will trim costs by producing chips for other companies, leaving Intel as the only chip company to both design and manufacture the microprocessors at the heart of modern electronic devices.
