Advanced Micro Devices and ATI Technologies are expected to announce the deal, under which the former is to acquire the latter for $5.5 or $5.6 billion. The deal may be announced in just a few days, according to reports.

The board of directors at Sunnyvale, California-based AMD have approved a takeover offer, according to an investment banker familiar with the talks, claims The Globe and Mail news-paper. Other sources in the financial industry said AMD executives have been spotted at ATI’s Markham, Ontario head office, the same source reports.

”There has been considerable industry speculation that AMD may pursue an acquisition of ATI Technologies, although such an outcome is by no means certain,” said a report this week for analyst Eric Gomberg at investment bank Thomas Weisel Partners ”In light of AMD's technology road map, and specifically its Torrenza technology, we believe that such a merger would not be so far fetched”.

Thomas Weisel Partners company estimates that AMD would make an offer at a 20-to-40% premium to ATI’s current share price, which yields into $5.5 or $5.6 billion.

The merge between two companies has been discussed for about two months now. There are lot of advantages for AMD to acquire a company like ATI, while the latter will also get certain benefits from such an acquisition, there are also drawbacks associated with such a union.

X-bit labs recently polled some industry sources, who said that the deal would happen for sure, and also released an analysis of the outcome of the deal.

Neither AMD, nor ATI commented on the information.