GlobalFoundries (GF) CEO Thomas Caulfield said the company still plans to have an initial public offering (IPO) next year and there has been no discussion or offer from Intel regarding an acquisition.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Intel Corp. was looking to acquire the pure-play foundry to bolster its own foundry ambitions as well as to boost U.S. domestic semiconductor manufacturing, something the company has been heavily invested in since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There’s nothing there in that discussion,” Caulfield said to Bloomberg. Additionally, he said Mubadalla Investment Company, GF’s parent company, has not been in any discussion or negotiations with Intel nor does he believe they are interested.
“I think they are interested in holding onto GF,” Caulfield said. “They think this asset has become a star in their portfolio.”
GF said earlier this week it plans to expand its semiconductor manufacturing capacity by building a new fab in Malta, New York, the site of its existing Fab 8 facility. Details of the fab, including the process nodes or customers, have not been revealed.
The new capacity will meet growing demand for chips needed by growth markets such as automotive, 5G and the internet of things (IoT).
Earlier this year, GF said it would spend $1.4 billion to expand output at its three factories in the U.S., Singapore and Germany. In June, the company broke ground on its new fab in Singapore, investing an additional $4 billion to help meet growing demand for semiconductor manufacturing. The company also made a deal with GlobalWafers to add 300 mm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers and expand existing 200 mm SOI wafer production.
