AMD has announced that a U.S. government interagency panel has approved an investment deal between AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) and Advanced Technology Investment Co. (ATIC), an Abu Dhabi-government-owned company.

The panel, known as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) is an interagency committee of U.S. government employees that review the national security implications of foreign investments in strategic U.S. companies. The U.S. Treasury Department Secretary is the Chair of CFIUS, and CFIUS includes representatives from the U.S. Departments of Defense, Commerce, State and Homeland Security.

The investment deal is part of a semiconductor joint venture in a company announced last October, known as The Foundry Company. Last month, AMD indicated that its equity stake in The Foundry Company was being reduced from approximately 44 percent to 34.2 percent. The change in AMD's stake is reportedly due to a write down in the value of the manufacturing assets that AMD is contributing to the venture; ATIC will now own 65.2 percent of The Foundry Company, according to AMD.

ATIC is still making a sizeable investment of $2.1 billion for its stake in the venture. According to AMD, $1.4 billion of this amount will be invested directly in The Foundry Company and $700 million will be paid directly to AMD.  This joint venture will allow AMD to divest its manufacturing operations as it proceeds with a new, streamlined "fab lite" fabrication strategy.

CFIUS also indicated that an additional investment in AMD by Abu Dhabi's government-backed Mubadala Development Company would not be subjected to U.S. government review if the companies decided to embark in this venture.