Chinese pure play foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) plans to purchase a 70% stake in LFoundry Europe GmbH, an IC wafer foundry headquartered in Italy.
SMIC will own a majority stake in the foundry, with LFoundry owning 15% and Marsica Innovation S.p.A., a wafer manufacturing subsidiary of LFoundry, owning 15%. The $54.4 million deal will increase the scale and technology portfolios, and expand market opportunities for both foundries.
This is the first acquisition of an overseas-based manufacturer for Shanghai-based SMIC, which the company calls a major step forward toward internationalizing the pure play foundry. The acquisition will also allow SMIC to enter into the global automotive electronics market.
SMIC says gaining LFoundry’s manufacturing capability will boost its total monthly capacity by 13%. LFoundry manufactures 40,000 8-inch wafers per month, while SMIC total capacity includes 162,000 8-inch wafers per month and 63,500 12-inch wafers per month.
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