Philips sells off MEMS foundry as Xiver
Philips has sold off its MEMS wafer fab and foundry in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, to a consortium of Dutch investors for an undisclosed sum. The foundry supplies ASML Lithography amongst others and has been renamed Xiver.
The MEMS foundry has been purchased by a consortium of private investors led Orange Mills Ventures owned by Cees Meeuwis.
Besides supplying components for ASML’s extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment Xiver provides infrared detectors for the automotive sector and has capability in capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs).
Jon Van Soerland has been appointed CEO and Kees Wesdorp chairman of the board.
Workers’ support
“Xiver is heading for a very bright future with a lot of growth. That is driven by the unique products we make here in Eindhoven combined with the high-quality employees working here,” said Van Oerland in a statement.
The works council at the factory has helped the company reach an agreement with trade unions on employment conditions and according to reports Xiver intends to retain its 110-person workforce.
“The new management has addressed the employees with positive impetus. This has clearly enhanced people’s confidence in management,” said Patrick Meerts of the FNV Metaal union in the statement issued by Xiver.
In 2016 the company was looking to double manufacturing capacity from 15,000 to 30,000 wafer starts per year on a mix of 6-inch and 200mm diameter wafers per year out of a 2,650 square meter cleanroom. At that time it had about 140 employees.
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