TowerJazz completes Maxim fab buyout
Specialty foundry TowerJazz has completed its acquisition of an 8-inch wafer fabrication facility in San Antonio, Texas from Maxim Integrated Products. Maxim received $40m in cash and about 3.3 million shares of Tower Semiconductor common stock.
The acquisition will expand TowerJazz's global manufacturing capacity, increasing its production by about 28,000 wafers per month. The availability of capacity is needed to serve current and forecasted customer demand, the firm says.
As part of the transaction, the firms signed a 15-year supply agreement under which TowerJazz will manufacture products for Maxim in the San Antonio facility, in quantities that will allow for a gradual ramp of third-party products.
TowerJazz offers a broad range of customisable process technologies including SiGe BiCMOS and RF CMOS (SOI and bulk) for radio frequency and high performance analogue applications. For many years it has been Maxim's supplier for a family of high-end SiGe based products.