According to a short press release AMD sent out, the Sunnyvale-based company will be making a "significant corporate announcement" later today and as the reports have it, Asset Light/Smart will be the subject. After months of speculation AMD is expected to announce that it will spin off its manufacturing plants and become a fabless, debt-free chip designing company.

The master plan is to have AMD's factories owned by a new entity called Foundry Company which will be funded by two Abu Dhabi state-owned venture capital firms. The two will invest in excess of $5.7 billion into Foundry Company and also buy about $300 million worth of AMD stock.

While AMD focuses on designing new CPUs and GPUs, the Foundry Company is expected to build a new manufacturing facility in the state of New York and also re-equip its Dresden fabs. Apparently, the deal will be closed either in late 2008 or early 2009. After that, it should be a whole new ball game in the chip industry.

[Update] - AMD has issued a press releases detailing the fab spin off and the investments of Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) and Mubadala Development Company of Abu Dhabi.

In the temporarily named "The Foundry Company" joint venture of AMD and ATIC, the former will own 44.4% while the latter will have 55.6%. AMD's contribution to the new company consists of its manufacturing facilities, including two fabrication facilities in Dresden, Germany, as well as related assets and intellectual property rights. As for ATIC, it will invest $2.1 billion to purchase its stake in The Foundry Company, of which it will invest $1.4 billion directly in the new entity and the remainder will be paid to AMD to purchase additional shares in The Foundry Company. The Foundry Company will also assume approximately $1.2 billion of AMD's existing debt.

Mubadala, a firm that already owns 8.1% of AMD, is set to increase its stake to 19.3% by purchasing 58 million AMD shares for $314 million and will enter a 12-month agreement with ATIC to project manage ATIC's interest in The Foundry Company.

The deal that will see AMD go fabless is expected to close at the beginning of 2009.