
Infineon Technologies is to buy GaN Systems of Canada for $830 million in cash in a move that is likely to trigger consolidation in the industry
The definitive agreement aims to boost Infineon’s position in GaN for applications like mobile charging, data centre power supplies, residential solar inverters and onboard chargers for electric vehicles.
GaN Systems, founded in 2008, is headquartered in Ottawa and has more than 200 employees. It had raised over $170m in funding according to Crunchbase. It has a second source deal with Rohm of Japan, a direct competitor to Infineon.
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Other GaN technology developers include EPC, Transphorm, Cambridge GaN Devices and Vanguard International Semiconductor.
“The planned acquisition of GaN Systems will significantly accelerate our GaN roadmap, based on unmatched R&D resources, application understanding and customer project pipeline,” said Jochen Hanebeck, CEO of Infineon. “Following our strategy, the combination will further strengthen Infineon’s leadership in Power Systems through mastery of all relevant power technologies, be it on silicon, silicon carbide or gallium nitride.”
Jim Witham, CEO of GaN Systems, said: “With our joint expertise in providing superior solutions, we will optimally leverage the potential of GaN. Combining GaN Systems’ foundry corridors with Infineon’s in-house manufacturing capacity enables maximum growth capability to serve the accelerating adoption of GaN in a wide range of our target markets. I am very proud of what GaN Systems has accomplished so far and cannot wait to help write the next chapter together with Infineon. As an integrated device manufacturer with a broad technology capability, Infineon enables us to unleash our full potential.”
Market analysts Yole expect the GaN revenue for power applications to grow by 56% CAGR to approx. US$2 billion by 2027, which lags behind silicon carbide as the other major power compound semiconductor.
In February 2022, Infineon announced doubling down on wide bandgap by investing more than €2 billion in a new frontend fab in Kulim, Malaysia, strengthening its market position. The first wafers will leave the fab in the second half of 2024, adding to Infineon’s existing wide bandgap manufacturing capacities in Villach, Austria.
The deal is subject to the usual regulatory approvals.
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