Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) says it will acquire a computer chip maker controlled by the Singapore government in a transaction valued at S$5.6 billion (Dh14.36bn) in cash and debt.
ATIC will pay S$2.68 for each Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing share, a 14 per cent premium to their average price over the past month. The deal is subject to approval by Chartered Semiconductor shareholders and the Singapore High Court.
When the acquisition is completed, Chartered Semiconductor will be merged with Globalfoundries, the chip manufacturer that ATIC runs in a joint venture with the US chip company AMD.
Temasek Holdings, the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund that owns 62 per cent of Chartered stock, has already approved the sale, the companies said.
"What we plan to do is go through an intense integration planning period in the coming months, before commencing on the operational integration when the deal is completed," said Ibrahim Ajami, the ATIC chief executive.
"We expect it to take six to 18 months to fully execute on the synergies between Chartered and Globalfoundries."
If approved, the deal would be completed by ATIC International Investment Company, a subsidiary of ATIC, in the fourth quarter.
Doug Grose, the chief executive of Globalfoundries, will head Chartered following the deal, and his leadership team were key players in the acquisition, Mr Ajami said. "They have been very involved all the way through, and formed a critical part of the diligence team."
The deal is the latest chapter in Abu Dhabi's efforts to diversify its economy away from oil and lure newer, high-technology industries to the emirate, analysts said.
Chartered Semiconductor has struggled to turn a profit in recent years and has long been viewed as a troublesome part of Temasek's investment portfolio.
AMD, which spun off its manufacturing system into the ATIC-controlled Globalfoundries and is 20 per cent owned by Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Development, has also been routinely in the red.
Mr Ajami said the remedy for Chartered Semiconductor was the boost in scale and resources that would come from its integration into Globalfoundries, and the backing of a strategic investor.
"This is not just about Chartered, this is about building the value that comes from the complementary nature and synergies between the two companies," he said. "This industry is a scale game."
The investment also underscored a growing effort by the UAE and Asian nations such as Singapore to build investment and trade ties to offset their dependence on the West, which the global financial crisis has exposed as a major economic vulnerability.
"It emphasises the growing sophistication of commercial ties in the region beyond simply oil and cheap consumer goods," said Ben Simpfendorfer, an economist at RBS in Hong Kong and author of The New Silk Road: How a Rising Arab World is Turning Away from the West and Rediscovering China. "It also underscores that the economic crisis has not stalled the rise of the new Silk Road."
ATIC is spearheading Abu Dhabi's aim of diversifying the emirate's economy into more value-added businesses that reduce its dependence on oil exports. Making semiconductors requires access to cheap and reliable power, something Abu Dhabi can easily provide. But Globalfoundries does not yet have any plants in Abu Dhabi. The company owns a plant in Germany and is building another in the US state of New York.
It has said it may build a semiconductor fabrication plant in the capital, but such facilities, called wafer fabs, can cost more than US$3bn (Dh11bn) to build. With its purchase of Chartered, Globalfoundries would immediately gain six wafer fabs in Singapore and a $1.7bn-a-year company with 5,500 employees in seven countries.
"I think it's a smart move," said Daniel Heyler, a regional semiconductor analyst for Bank of America-Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong. "Chartered has good partners and good technology, and needs funding."
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
THE SPECS
Cadillac XT6 2020 Premium Luxury
Engine: 3.6L V-6
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 310hp
Torque: 367Nm
Price: Dh280,000
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Khodar%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cairo%20and%20Alexandria%2C%20in%20Egypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ayman%20Hamza%2C%20Yasser%20Eidrous%20and%20Amr%20El%20Sheikh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20agriculture%20technology%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24500%2C000%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Saudi%20Arabia%E2%80%99s%20Revival%20Lab%20and%20others%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EEmployees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2035%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
The biog
Name: Capt Shadia Khasif
Position: Head of the Criminal Registration Department at Hatta police
Family: Five sons and three daughters
The first female investigator in Hatta.
Role Model: Father
She believes that there is a solution to every problem
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
La Mer lowdown
La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.
The bio
Favourite food: Japanese
Favourite car: Lamborghini
Favourite hobby: Football
Favourite quote: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough
Favourite country: UAE
MATCH INFO
Sheffield United 2 Bournemouth 1
United: Sharp (45 2'), Lundstram (84')
Bournemouth: C Wilson (13')
Man of the Match: Jack O’Connell (Sheffield United)
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The advice provided in our columns does not constitute legal advice and is provided for information only. Readers are encouraged to seek independent legal advice.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
ANALYSTS’ TOP PICKS OF SAUDI BANKS IN 2019
Analyst: Aqib Mehboob of Saudi Fransi Capital
Top pick: National Commercial Bank
Reason: It will be at the forefront of project financing for government-led projects
Analyst: Shabbir Malik of EFG-Hermes
Top pick: Al Rajhi Bank
Reason: Defensive balance sheet, well positioned in retail segment and positively geared for rising rates
Analyst: Chiradeep Ghosh of Sico Bank
Top pick: Arab National Bank
Reason: Attractive valuation and good growth potential in terms of both balance sheet and dividends
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind