Swedish-Finnish consortium makes a bid for BelGan
The Swedish-Finnish consortium’s bid is being seen as a strategic move by Swedish-led companies to boost their presence in the semiconductor industry.
Updated; August 28, 2024 9:55 AM
Struggling Belgian semiconductor foundry BelGaN has received a bid from a Swedish-Finnish consortium, 7 Semiconductors Oy, headquartered in Helsinki, for its gallium nitride (GaN) fab. As of reporting the offered amount has not been disclosed.
BelGaN filed for bankruptcy in July.
The consortium’s bid is seen as a strategic move by Swedish-led companies to boost their presence in the semiconductor industry.
“We have been working tirelessly for almost three years to position Sweden as a leader in the semiconductor sector. While our initial plan was to construct a semiconductor factory domestically, the opportunity to collaborate with Belgium emerged as a promising alternative,” said Gerard de Bourbon, representing venture capital company Spirit Ventures, according to a report by HardwareBee.
The previous owners of the GaN fab and Belgian entrepreneur Guido Dumarey are also believed to be interested in ownership of the fabs.
BelGaN’s history dates back to 2008 when ON Semiconductor acquired the Oudenaarde site and made semiconductor products for customers in the automotive, industrial and medical sectors.
In 2022, BelGaN acquired the fab, switching production from traditional silicon chips to gallium nitride chips. GaN chips can be used in electric chargers, electric cars and data centres.
