LFoundry quietly sold to startup Wuxi Xichanweixin
eeNews Europe had reported SMIC’s intention to sell its stake to Jiangsu CAS-IGBT in April 2019 (see SMIC sells Italian wafer fab to Jiangsu) but we missed that in June of that year the participants agreed that Jiangsu CAS-IGBT Technology could transfer its interest to Wuxi Xichanweixin Semiconductor Co. Ltd.
Wuxi Xichanweixin Semiconductor (Wuxi, Jiangsu, China) has been created in the 2Q19 and had the intention of using Jiangsu CAS-IGBT Technology and LFoundry as production bases for semiconductor devices and integrated circuits for a broad set of applications.
LFoundry has a 150nm process suitable for mixed-signal applications including low power, high voltage and RF. It also has a 110nm process with 1.2V core and know-how for CMOS Image Sensors through processes down to 90nm, as well as offering back side illumination technology.
In July 2019 LFoundry reported that SMIC had announced a deal to sell its stake in the company to Wuxi Xichanweixin Semiconductor. At the same time Wuxi Xichanweixin Semiconductor took over the shares of minority shareholders Marsica Innovation SpA and Isar Valley GmbH. Therefore, now LFoundry became 100 percent owned by Wuxi Xichanweixin Semiconductor.
The deal remained as originally constructed and included two Bulgarian operations: the automotive design service related SMIC Sofia and LFoundry Sofia specialised in CMOS image sensor development and production. The price of the deal also stayed the same at $112.8 million with Wuxi Xichanweixin Semiconductor agreeing to pay $60 million upon closing, $26.4 million on September 30, and $26.4 million on December 30, 2019.
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