Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (Nasdaq: TSEM; TASE: TSEM) has completed the acquisition of an 8-inch wafer fabrication facility in San Antonio, Texas from Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:MXIM). Tower, which markets as TowerJazz, announced the $40 million acquisition in November. This acquisition will expand the company's current worldwide manufacturing capacity, cost-effectively increasing its production by about 28,000 wafers per month. The availability of capacity is needed to serve the company’s current and forecasted robust customer demand.
As part of the transaction, the companies signed a long-term supply agreement of 15 years, under which Tower will manufacture products for Maxim in the San Antonio facility, in quantities which will allow for a gradual ramp of third party products.
Tower CEO Russell Ellwanger said, “We already performed first qualifications of our high demand and high volume flows, with Maxim’s approval, confirming the outstanding engineering and manufacturing capabilities of the San Antonio fab personnel. We are now excited to have San Antonio staff and geography join us; they are a great addition to the TowerJazz family. We look forward to continuing to drive customer success and company growth through committed performance and execution.”
Maxim Integrated’s Technology and Manufacturing Group SVP Vivek Jain said, “We needed a trusted partner to manage our proprietary process technology who also shared our commitment to the employees in San Antonio. TowerJazz has a proven track record with Maxim and similar beliefs about employees, so this is a natural fit. I look forward to our continued partnership over the coming years. With this arrangement, we will continue to support our customers for years to come, improve utilization in our Oregon fab, and advance our manufacturing flexibility.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 2, 2016
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