AMD denies reports company is for sale

Computerworld - Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is denying reports that executives have taken steps that could lead to the company's sale.

Speculation began to spread Tuesday afternoon after Reuters reported that AMD has hired JPMorgan Chase & Co to explore business options, including a potential sale. According to Reuters, which cited unnamed sources, AMD is not focused on an outright sale of the company but could be looking to offload its patent portfolio.

One of the world's largest chip makers, AMD has been struggling in recent years against competitors like Intel, as well as a PC industry that has been pummeled by the growth in sales of tablets and smartphones.

Just last month, the chip maker announced it was laying off 15% of its workforce.

However, late this afternoon, AMD said it's not looking to sell. "AMD's board and management believe that the strategy the company is currently pursuing to drive long-term growth by leveraging AMD's highly-differentiated technology assets is the right approach to enhance shareholder value," the company said in an email to Computerworld. "AMD is not actively pursuing a sale of the company or significant assets at this time."

Zeus Kerravala, an analyst with ZK Research, said he wouldn't be surprised if AMD was looking into different sale options.

"I think selling off parts of the business would make sense," he said. "Raise some cash and then get laser focused in the higher growth areas.... Sell off some of the dead parts of the business and focus on gaming, mobile, etc. -- the high growth areas. Ditch PCs."

Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at  @sgaudin, on Google+ or subscribe to Sharon's RSS feed . Her email address is sgaudin@computerworld.com.

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