New Addition to Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD)’s Board by Abu Dhabi

A second representative has been added to the board of directors of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.(NYSE:AMD), by its major shareholder, Mubadala Development. Mubadala is actually an investment arm of the Government of Abu Dhabi. According to the statement issued by the Sunnyvale, California-based company yesterday, Mubadala has chosen to nominate Ahmed Yahia Al Idrissi to AMD’s board.

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In an e-mailed statement, AMD spokesman Drew Prairie explained the decision in detail. Mubadala’s long-time association with AMD and its dedication to the company is absolutely in line with the appointment of Ahmed Yahia Al Idrissi. Another reason for this addition to the AMD board is due to the extreme importance of the semiconductor industry to Mubadala.

Analysts have predicted quite some time back that the personal-computer market is headed for a slowdown, which will adversely affect AMD. It is quite possible that the firm will face acute shortage of cash flow, which will prevent it from introducing new models in the market and thus turnaround its fortunes. Mubadala owns 20% of AMD and they are looking to combat the aforementioned slowdown in the future, by broadening its oversight of AMD’s management.

According to the statement by AMD, Yahia is in charge of its metals, mining, utilities and advanced materials and products, being an executive director of Mubadala Industry. He was previously a partner of McKinsey & Co. and is a degree holder from the Ecole Centrale Paris and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Abu Dhabi got its stake in AMD via Mubadala when it purchased the manufacturing division of the company, which gave birth to the contract chip manufacturer Globalfoundries. This transaction took place 4 years back in 2008 and now AMD is Globalfoundries’ main customer. Shares of AMD went up 2.5% to $2.03 in New York at the close, although their stock has dropped 62% in 2012.