AMD Goes Shopping

Local chipmaker AMD is dropping $4.2 billion in cold hard cash and 57 million in shares to acquire high-end graphics chip maker ATI. The move is expected to strategically prepare AMD for the mythical release of Vista, Microsoft’s new version of Windows, which has been repeatedly pushed back. According to a press release from AMD’s site, the acquisition will result in $7.1 billion in combined sales and 14,900 total employees. The company will maintain its current sales and manufacturing centers, including Austin. This move comes on the heels of Microsoft picking up local software house Winternals last week, for undisclosed sum.

Photo by monochrome.