Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2003/08/11/umc_to_pay_up/

UMC to pay up to $130m for Infineon fab JV share

Cost of switching to IBM

By Tony Smith

Posted in Channel, 11th August 2003 09:26 GMT

UMC will pay Infineon $100-130 million to buy the memory maker's 30 per cent stake in their Singapore-based 300m wafer fab joint venture.

So says an unnamed UMC source, cited by Dow Jones.

The payment follows Infineon's decision, announced last week, to quit the JV. At the same time, the company said it would be working with IBM and Chartered Silicon to develop 65nm and smaller chip fabrication processes.

Having previously partnered with UMC on 90nm and under process development, the IBM/Chartered announcement effectively marked the end of Infineon's development work with UMC.

Infineon's decision to pull out of the Singapore fab project marks the end of its plant construction work with UMC, too.

UMC will gain Infineon's 30 per cent stake in the fab, adding to the majority interest it already holds. The only other major shareholder is Singapore's Economic Development Board, which owns 15 per cent of the plant. The JV was formed in 2001 and is expected to go into volume production next year. ®

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