Intel Corp, the world’s largest maker of computer chips, will invest in three technology companies based in the United Arab Emirates.
Intel will finance its investment in Conservus International FZ-LLC, Pulse Technologies FZ-LLC and Vertex Animation Studio FZ- LLC from its US$50 million Intel Capital Middle East and Turkey Fund, the company said yesterday in Dubai.
“We have a strong pipeline for future investments in the region,” Feroz Sanaulla, director of Intel Capital’s Middle East, Turkey and Africa division, said during a press conference. “Several hundred million dollars have been deployed in the region, and you will see more in the next few months.”
Intel, whose processors run more than 80 percent of the world’s personal computers, has announced layoffs this year as the global credit crisis curbed consumer spending, hurting technology companies.
The company said on Jan. 21 it would close five older plants that employ as many as 6,000 people, including its last factory in Silicon Valley, as it copes with a worldwide recession.
“It’s a very unpredictable situation,” Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital said. “We’re in an economic situation where virtually no company is untouched.”
Meanwhile, shareholders of Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Intel’s largest rival, was to vote yesterday on a planned spinoff of plants as part of an investment from the Abu Dhabi government.
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