Vishay acquires Nexperia’s Newport Wafer Fab for $177m
Vishay Intertechnology has completed the acquisition of Nexperia’s wafer fabrication facility and operations located in Newport, South Wales, UK for approximately USD 177 million.
The Newport wafer fab is an automotive-certified, 200mm semiconductor wafer fab with the capacity to produce more than 30,000 wafers per month. It is the UK’s largest semiconductor fab with a long history of supplying components to the automotive and industrial markets.
Vishay says in a press release that it plans to position the facility as a "manufacturing excellence centre" focusing on Net Zero Transformation of decarbonisation and electrification. Vishay also plans to collaborate with local universities and others in the UK to enhance its research and development efforts on power compound semiconductors.
“The acquisition of Newport aligns with the strategic shift the Board envisioned with its decision to appoint new leadership. Under Joel’s leadership, Vishay is making this shift, investing in technologies and incremental capacity to drive faster growth and enhance returns to stockholders. The goal is to prepare Vishay to capitalize on the megatrends of e-mobility, sustainability, and connectivity,” says Marc Zandman, Executive Chairman of the Board in a press release.
Vishay is committed to investing in Newport to grow capacity, and to accelerate our SiC and GaN production and technology development – and is now welcoming employees at the Newport wafer fab into the Vishay family
“With a Vishay-owned fab to qualify and scale our SiC portfolio, we are accelerating our participation in the SiC MOSFETs and diodes marketplace, as desired by our customers,” adds Joel Smejkal, President and CEO of Vishay. “In late 2022, the MaxPower acquisition advanced our SiC intellectual property and MOSFETs product technology. We are excited to further develop our SiC and GaN technology as a new member of the Compound Semiconductor Cluster in South Wales.”
