UMC buys out Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor
The 300mm wafer foundry, part of a joint venture with Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor, is now wholly-owned by UMC
United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) has acquired all of the shares of Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited (MIFS), the 300mm wafer foundry joint venture between both companies.
In addition to the 15.9% of MIFS shares currently owned by UMC, Fujitsu Semiconductor will transfer the remaining 84.1% of its shares in MIFS to UMC, making MIFS a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Taiwan-based foundry.
The consideration of the transaction will be around ¥ JPN 57.6 billion (approx US$520 million). The transfer is planned for January 1, 2019, pending approval by the relevant governmental authorities.
Jason Wang, co-president of UMC, commented: “UMC is experiencing high demand from mature 12-inch processes. With new applications in 5G, IoT, automotive and AI requiring these technologies, we anticipate the market conditions driving this demand to remain strong for the foreseeable future. The acquisition of a fully qualified, equipped, and volume production proven 12-inch facility provides greater time and ROI advantages compared to building a fab from scratch, which would cost several billion dollars and several years to construct and equip."