Intel settles up with AMD in $1.25bn deal
INTEL has agreed to pay rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) $1.25bn (£755m) to settle all outstanding legal disputes.
The settlement ends a campaign that AMD has been waging against its larger rival which stretches back 12 years, and will give the firm vital funds to pay down its $3.2bn of debt.
AMD took legal action against Intel in 2005, arguing that it thwarts competition in the microprocessor market by offering hefty discounts to customers that refuse to buy AMD’s products.
Regulators in Asia, Europe and the US have taken action against Intel because of complaints by AMD that its business is being damaged by alleged anti-competitive behaviour by the world’s top chipmaker, which makes 80 per cent of the central processing units (CPUs) at the heart of personal computers.
Joanne Feeney of FTN Equity Capital Markets said the deal could stave off the US Federal Trade Commission’s pending decision to take action against Intel. The commission’s chairman, Jon Leibowitz, said it will review the settlement.
AMD said it will withdraw all its regulatory complaints worldwide and drop all pending litigation. Intel and AMD also sealed a five-year cross license deal and said they would give up any claims of breach from their previous licence agreement.
But sources said that the agreement would have no effect on other lawsuits filed against Intel.