AMD spinoff gets the green light

Shareholders approve split of fabrication branch.

AMD shareholders finally approved a plan to spin of the company's embattled fabrication operations.

Under the terms of the stock deal, AMD's manufacturing operation will be spun off in cooperation with Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Investment Company.

Known as the Foundry Company, the new firm will be based in the US and maintain factories in Dresden Germany and Saratoga, NY.

Final approval of the deal comes just one week after AMD was forced to extend the deadline for the shareholder vote on the proposal. AMD expects to finalize the deal by March 2.

Though the company's shareholders had overwhelmingly approved the plan, a low turnout forced the company to delay the process until a sufficient number of shareholders had weighed in.

The spinoff of its manufacturing operation is widely considered to be a critical step in AMD's recovery from its financial woes. The company has seen itself fall behind rival Intel in recent years due to the slowing economy and its own inability to get products to market.

Final approval of AMD's spinoff comes just days after Intel announced that it would be investing US$7bn to beef up its own manufacturing operations in anticipation of a new line of 32nm processors.