The companies this week signed a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) to transfer the Elmos wafer fabrication at the Dortmund location to Silex. Elmos will sell its wafer fabrication activities in Dortmund for a net purchase price of 85 million Euro. The purchase incorporates a supply agreement under which Silex will continue the current wafer manufacturing, operating as an independent foundry supplying CMOS wafers to Elmos. The closing of the transaction is expected to take place in the second half of 2022 and is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
Based in Dortmund, Germany, Elmos Semiconductor develops, produces, and markets semiconductor products, primarily for use in the automotive industry. The products communicate, measure, regulate, and control safety, comfort, powertrain, and network functions. For over 30 years, Elmos innovations have been bringing new functions to life and making mobility worldwide safer, more comfortable, and more energy efficient.
To accommodate the acquisition, Elmos will transfer all relevant assets and contracts that are directly linked to the wafer manufacturing fab into a newly founded stand-alone foundry operation. At closing, Silex will acquire 100% of the shares of this entity, including direct and indirect personnel under the leadership of the former management of the Elmos fab. Silex will lease the clean room from ELMOS under a long-term lease agreement.
"The acquisition of this automotive qualified 200mm wafer fab will be an important milestone in our successful growth strategy as world leading foundry for MEMS and advanced wafer processing services. The Elmos wafer fab, with its efficient high quality wafer processing operation and highly experienced team, is a perfect fit for meets our needs and opens new possibilities for Silex to expand the capacity for our global foundry customers. This transaction will help us in achieving our goal to become the industry's most advanced and efficient provider of advanced wafer foundry manufacturing. The Silex team is very proud to continue expanding the wafer fabrication operation at this location, and also seeing automotive qualified CMOS added to Silex foundry offer," said Dr. Edvard Kälvesten, CEO, Board Member and Founder of Silex Microsystems AB.
"Although Elmos is on a growth path, the customer demand for our 350nm automotive products will decline in the long term, as smaller node size products will be used in the future. Today's agreement with Silex provides a promising and long-term perspective with new technologies for this location. We are very happy and convinced that we have found a very good and sustainable solution for our employees, our customers, and the Dortmund location," said Dr. Arne Schneider, CEO of Elmos Semiconductor.
Silex Microsystems is a global leader for MEMS foundry manufacturing services and offers state-of-the-art MEMS production of advanced sensors and actuators for medical, consumer, telecom, industrial, and automotive applications.
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