Volume production fab will further diversify
UMC’s 300mm manufacturing base
Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited (Fujitsu Semiconductor) and United
Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC; TWSE:2303) ("UMC"), a
leading global semiconductor foundry, today announced that UMC will
acquire all of the shares of Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited
(MIFS), a 300mm wafer foundry joint venture between both
companies.
In addition to the 15.9% of MIFS shares currently owned by UMC,
Fujitsu Semiconductor will transfer the remaining 84.1% of its
shares in MIFS to UMC, making MIFS a wholly-owned subsidiary of the
Taiwan-based foundry. The consideration of the transaction will be
around ¥ JPN 57.6 billion. The transfer is planned for January 1,
2019, pending approval by the relevant governmental
authorities.
In 2014, both companies concluded an agreement for UMC to
acquire a 15.9% stake in MIFS through progressive phases. Since
then, besides equity investment, Fujitsu Semiconductor and UMC have
been furthering their partnership through licensing of UMC’s 40nm
technology and establishment of a 40nm logic production line at
MIFS. After several years of joint operations, both companies have
agreed on the benefits of integrating MIFS into UMC, which has a
strong business foundation as a world leading semiconductor foundry
with a broad customer portfolio, enhanced manufacturing expertise
and extensive technology offerings enabling MIFS to maximize its
values it can deliver to all stakeholders, including its
customers.
As a member of UMC, MIFS will continue to provide foundry
services of an even higher quality to its customers. While the name
of the company and details of distribution after the transaction
will soon be determined, for the present, MIFS will maintain its
existing distribution channels for customers.
Jason Wang, co-president of UMC said, “UMC is experiencing high
demand from mature 12" processes. With new applications in 5G, IoT,
automotive and AI requiring these technologies, we anticipate the
market conditions driving this demand to remain strong for the
foreseeable future. The acquisition of a fully qualified, equipped,
and volume production proven 12" facility provides greater time and
ROI advantages compared to building a fab from scratch, which would
cost several billion dollars and several years to construct and
equip. With existing 300mm fabs in Taiwan, China and Singapore,
Japan-based MIFS will help customers further diversify their
manufacturing risk with a robust production base to ensure business
continuity, which is especially important for automotive chip
makers who require a stable and uninterrupted source of supply. UMC
will also be able to leverage its decades of world class IC
production experience with Japan's local talent and world-renowned
quality standards to better serve Japanese and international
customers. We are excited that the strong partnership between UMC
and Fujitsu Semiconductor will enable us to achieve further growth
and provide customers with higher value through the acquisition of
MIFS.”
“With its strengths in technology, such as ultra-low power
consumption process technology, non-volatile memory technology for
embedded applications, and RF and mmWave technology, as well as its
highly reliable production system, as accepted by automotive
customers, and its outstanding and experienced workforce, MIFS has
been providing its customers with high quality foundry services”
said Kagemasa Magaribuchi, President and Representative Director of
Fujitsu Semiconductor. “To sustain its growth in the future and
deliver far greater values to its customers, Fujitsu Semiconductor
and MIFS have determined that it is the best to further enhance its
competitiveness as a pure-play foundry by becoming a member of the
UMC Group, a leading global semiconductor foundry. I expect that,
by fully leveraging the UMC Group’s strengths, including its
expertise and its cost competitiveness driven both by capital
investment backed by ample financial resources as well as its
globally expanded businesses, MIFS will further grow as a global
company. I believe that the further growth of MIFS will also
contribute to maintaining and expanding a workforce and to the
local economy in the regions MIFS resides.”
About UMC
UMC (NYSE:UMC, TWSE:2303) is a leading global semiconductor
foundry that provides advanced IC production for applications
spanning every major sector of the electronics industry. UMC’s
comprehensive foundry solutions enable chip designers to leverage
the company’s sophisticated technology and manufacturing, which
include world-class 28nm High-K/Metal Gate technology, 14nm FinFET
volume production, specialty process platforms specifically
developed for AI, 5G and IoT applications and the automotive
industry’s highest-rated AEC-Q100 Grade-0 manufacturing
capabilities for the production of ICs found in vehicles. UMC’s 11
wafer fabs are strategically located throughout Asia and are able
to produce nearly 600,000 wafers per month. The company employs
over 20,000 people worldwide, with offices in Taiwan, China,
Europe, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and the United States. UMC can be
found on the web at http://www.umc.com.
Note from UMC Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements in the foregoing announcement are forward
looking within the meaning of the U.S. Federal Securities laws,
including statements about future outsourcing, wafer capacity,
technologies, business relationships and market conditions.
Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ
materially from these statements as a result of a variety of
factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor market
and economy; acceptance and demand for products from UMC; and
technological and development risks. Further information regarding
these and other risks is included in UMC’s filings with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission, including its registration
statements and reports on Forms F-1, F-3, F-6 and 20-F and 6-K, in
each case as amended. UMC does not undertake any obligation to
update any forward-looking statement as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as required under
applicable law.
About Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited
Fujitsu Semiconductor Group includes a system memory group that
is focused on high quality, high performance Ferroelectric random
access memory (FRAM), wafer foundry group that has excellent
technology and support, and the sales business of Fujitsu
Electronics and overseas sales companies. Headquartered in
Yokohama, we established as a subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited on
March 21, 2008. Through its global sales and development network,
with sites in Japan and throughout Asia, Europe, and the Americas,
we offer semiconductor solutions to the global marketplace.
For more information, visit
http://www.fujitsu.com/jp/fsl/en/.
About Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited
Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor is a pure-play foundry company based
on 300mm wafer manufacturing facilities located in Kuwana city,
Mie, Japan. Headquartered in Yokohama, it was established as a
subsidiary of Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited on December 1, 2014.
UMC became its minority shareholder in March 2015. Mie Fujitsu
Semiconductor provides high-quality technology and services, with
wide-ranging expertise focusing on Ultra-Low-Power, Non-Volatile
Memory and RF Technology. For more information, please see:
http://www.fujitsu.com/jp/mifs/en/.
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UMCRichard Yu(886) 2-2658-9168 ext.
16951richard_yu@umc.comorFujitsu SemiconductorPublic
Relationshttps://www-s.fujitsu.com/jp/group/fsl/en/release/inquiry.html