Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing denied a news report that the Abu Dhabi investment company that led the spin off of Advanced Micro Devices’ former manufacturing operations has made an offer to acquire a majority stake in the Singaporean contract chip maker.
In a statement filed with the Singapore stock exchange on Friday, Chartered said it didn’t receive an offer from ATIC.
“From time to time, Chartered engages various parties in discussions to pursue business opportunities or concerning the strategic direction of the company, with a view to maximizing value for all shareholders,” the statement said. “There is no assurance that any definitive or binding agreement will result from these discussions.”
While the statement said Chartered did not received an offer from ATIC, it didn’t specify whether or not an offer to acquire the stake was made to Temasek instead.
A Temasek spokeswoman requested that questions about the reported offer be submitted via e-mail. At the time of writing, a response had not yet been received.
A Chartered spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.
News of the offer was reported by Singapore’s Business Times newspaper on Thursday. The report said Advanced Technology Investment Co. (ATIC) made an offer to acquire a nearly 60 percent stake in Chartered that is currently owned by Temasek Holdings, a state-owned investment company in Singapore.
ATIC is a joint owner of GlobalFoundries, the contract chip maker created from the former manufacturing arm of AMD. Chartered has been a second source of chips for AMD and therefore uses the same manufacturing technology used by GlobalFoundries.
Like other chip makers, Chartered has suffered at the hands of a weak economy. It’s first quarter revenue fell 37.2 percent compared to the same period last year and recorded a net loss of US$99 million. The company last month said it also expects to record a loss during the current quarter.