Intel Acquires Tower Semiconductor for $5.4 Billion
🟦 Intel Acquires Semiconductor Manufacturing Contract Tower Semi
Intel has announced that it will acquire Tower Semiconductor, a semiconductor foundry in Israel, for $5.4 billion (620 billion yen). Intel expects to complete the acquisition of Tower in a year’s time.
Tower Semiconductor
It is a specialized foundry that mainly uses analog semiconductors for switches and sensors in special processes such as BiCMOS, SiGe, and SOI. It owns a total of seven factories in Israel, the United States and Japan. In total, we have a capacity to produce more than 2 million wafers per year. The Japan plant was acquired by Panasonic in Japan in 2014. It is managed by TPSCo, which is jointly owned by Tower Semi (51%) and Taiwan Nuvoton (49%).
🟦 Integrated into foundry services
Intel is rushing to increase its production capacity, including announcing plans to invest $20 billion in Ohio to build a semiconductor plant. This time, we will acquire Tower Cicadia, which has strengths in semiconductor manufacturing for the Asian market, and increase our production capacity. It will be integrated into Intel Foundry Services (IFS), a new business established in 2021. Tower Semi’s process is not state-of-the-art, so no significant capital investment is required. US>We can make sure that we have a track record as a foundry business that Intel will launch.
🟦Summary
Acquisition of Tower Semiconductor to Integrate Intel’s New Business into Foundry Services
Intel already owns its own factories in Israel and the United States. Therefore, it means that there are Japan countries that will enter the market for the first time through acquisitions.
