AMD signs loan agreement for Dresden megafab

05/01/1997

AMD signs loan agreement for Dresden megafab

Bank syndicate representatives and officials from AMD, a global IC supplier, recently signed a loan agreement that will finance Fab 30, a new semiconductor wafer fabrication factory and research center to be built by AMD in Dresden, Germany. The loan commitment totals DM1.65 billion (US$967 million). The syndicate, led by Dresdner Bank AG, consists of 17 German and foreign banks.

Current plans call for a total investment of approximately DM3 billion ($1.76 billion) through the year 2006. AMD will contribute resources totaling DM550 million. German governmental support adds up to DM800 million supplemented by an indemnity bond to help secure the loan.

The loan provides for the construction of an 875,000 ft2 fab facility and the establishment of a design center. The fab will include approximately 90,000 ft2 of cleanroom space, dedicated to the manufacture of future generations of Windows compatible processors and other high-volume logic products. Groundbreaking for the facility occurred in October.

The plan is for the Dresden megafab to begin production in 1999 and be capable of producing 6000 200-mm wafers/week at maximum capacity.