Originally Posted by MSN Money
SUNNYVALE, Calif. (AP) - Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said Wednesday it will offer $1.5 billion in convertible senior notes as the chip maker pays down debt to regain its financial footing and better compete against larger rival Intel Corp.
AMD said the notes will be sold in a private offering to institutional buyers. The proceeds will be used to repay the outstanding balance of a term loan entered into with Morgan Stanley Senior Funding in October.
The buyer will have the option to buy up to $225 million in additional notes, which AMD would use for general corporate purposes.
AMD has been looking for ways to replenish its dwindling cash supply amid intense pricing pressure from Intel, heavy spending on upgrading factories to a more advanced chip-making process, and its $5.6 billion acquisition of graphics chip maker ATI Technologies Inc.
In April, Sunnyvale-based AMD announced that it closed on a separate offering of $2.2 billion in convertible senior notes, with net proceeds of about $2.17 billion to be used for general corporate purposes and to repay a loan tied to the ATI acquisition.
