Abu Dhabi government-owned Advanced Technology Investment Co., known as ATIC, last year bought Singapore-based contract chip maker Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing for $1.8 billion in cash and merged it with Globalfoundries, a company spun off from microchip maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and jointly owned by AMD and ATIC. Globalfoundries, with operations spanning three continents, is now the world’s third-largest contract chip maker behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and United Microelectronics of Taiwan. But it’s not happy at being No. 3.

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A bold move for AMD (AMD), which has sustained seven straight quarters of losses, and one that could dramatically alter its fortunes. Indeed, right off the bat, AMD will push $1.2 billion in debt off its books and onto those of the The Foundry Co. “This is the biggest announcement in our history” said CEO chief executive, Dirk Meyer. “This will make us a financially stronger company, both in the near term and in the long term, as a result of being out from the capital expense burden we have had to bear.”