In a welcome move for Silicon Glen and hundreds of employees, Diodes Inc says it will acquire Texas Instruments’ (TI) wafer fabrication facility and operation located in Greenock, Scotland (“GFAB”).
The del is expected to close in the first quarter of this year.
Upon closing, Diodes will integrate the Greenock facility and fab operations, including the transfer of all GFAB employees to Diodes. In addition, as part of a multi-year wafer supply agreement, Diodes will continue to manufacture TI’s Analogue products from GFAB as TI transfers into its other wafer fabs. TI’s 318,782 square-foot facility has a potential capacity of up to 21,666 wafer starts or 256,000 8in. equivalent layers per month, depending on product mix.
“The proposed acquisition of GFAB aligns well with our strategic plan for significant revenue and profit dollar growth over the next several years,” said Diodes’ President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Keh-Shew Lu. “GFAB offers Diodes additional wafer fab capacity to support our product growth, in particular our automotive expansion initiatives, as well as excellent engineering skills and wafer fab know-how to support our technical and operational performance expectations. This transaction meets our criteria for strategic acquisitions, and we expect it to be immediately accretive.”
“We look forward to welcoming the GFAB team into the Diodes’ family,” Lu said. “In addition, Diodes extends our appreciation to the Scottish Government, Scottish Development International and Inverclyde Council, who have worked to facilitate this transaction.”
Welcoming the agreement, Jamie Hepburn MSP, Scottish Government Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills, said, “I am pleased that Texas Instruments and Diodes have reached an agreement that will see continued production and employment in Greenock. The positive approach we have taken has helped to support this outcome and securing these jobs in Greenock would be a terrific result for all involved. The Scottish Government and its agencies will continue to work closely with Diodes, Texas Instruments and our public sector partners to put this project on a path towards a successful conclusion.”
TI announced the potential closure of the Greenock fab in 2016, and a taskforce was formed to find ways of keeping the facility open.
Inverclyde Council Leader and chair of the task force, Councillor Stephen McCabe, said, “This is an excellent outcome for both Inverclyde and Scotland. Diodes will help protect jobs in the area and is a further endorsement of Inverclyde as a business location. The positive approach of all partners involved in the task force has helped to support this development and we look forward to working together to make sure this is a success.”
The original facility was owned by National Semiconductor and started operations in 1969.
When this facility was badly damaged by fire, National had a new fab built which opened in 1977. TI took on the facility when it acquired National Semiconductor in 2011.
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