Trying again
Yesterday's shareholder vote on the move to spin-off AMD's manufacturing operations into a new company was supposed to be a mere formality. However, only a minority of shareholders had voted by the deadline, so AMD is having to adjourn the special shareholder meeting until 18th February.
The plan to split the company, which is the cornerstone of AMD's ‘Asset Smart' strategy, was first announced last October. The new manufacturing company has been provisionally called The Foundry Company and will be minority owned by AMD, with investor ATIC owning the majority.
AMD needed more than 50 percent of its shareholders to vote in order to establish a quorum and thus for the special meeting to be able to take place. Only 42 percent had voted by yesterday's deadline, hence the adjournment. The good news for AMD is that 97 percent of those who did vote were in favour of the move.
While this is widely used as merely a delay of the inevitable, it is embarrassing for AMD and will add to general concerns about the company as it aims to move back into profitability. AMD shares fell by over ten percent yesterday but fell no further in after hours trading.
