AMD announced Wednesday that its stockholders had approved a manufacturing joint venture with investment from Abu Dhabi.

AMD said in a statement that the approval is paving the way for AMD and the Advanced Technology Investment Company of Abu Dhabi to create "The Foundry Company". With the stockholder approval received today, all closing conditions for the creation of "The Foundry Company" manufacturing joint venture have been met, and the transaction is expected to close by March 2, 2009.

AMD stockholders approved a proposal to issue (i) 58 million shares of the company's common stock and warrants to purchase 35 million shares of its common stock and (ii) 35 million shares of the company's common stock upon exercise of those warrants to an affiliate of the Mubadala Development Company PJSC, on the terms described in the proxy statement related to the Special Meeting of Stockholders that was held today in Austin, Texas.

AMD, which has been falling behind market leader Intel , has said the move would result in one company that designs semiconductors and another which builds them. The Foundry Company will include manufacturing facilities in Dresden, Germany, with plans to expand that site as well as build a new facility in Saratoga County, New York. The new company will have its principal headquarters in Silicon Valley, and its research and development and manufacturing teams in New York, Dresden, and Austin.