Diodes buys TI’s Scottish fab
TI announced the closure of the ‘GFAB’ back in January 2016 with the expected loss of 365 jobs. The site, which was re-built in 1987 after a fire, was acquired when TI bought National Semiconductor back in 2011.
Now Diodes plans to integrate the Greenock facility and fab operations, including the transfer of all GFAB employees to Diodes when the deal closes at the end of March. In a multi-year wafer supply agreement, Diodes will also continue to manufacture TI’s analogue products at the site while TI transfers the devices to other wafer fabs. The 318,782 square-foot facility has a potential capacity of up to 21,666 wafer starts or 256,000 8” equivalent layers per month, depending on the 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 Dr. Keh-Shew Lu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Diodes. “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,”
Diodes’ primary fab in Manchester, UK, acquired as part of the deal to buy Zetex in 2010. The company had a turnover of $1.05bn in 2017 and announces its 2018 results in two weeks.
The value of the deal was not disclosed, but Diodes had support from a ‘taskforce’ set up by the local development agency, with further ‘significant support’ promised from Scottish Enterprise and Inverclyde Council for future investment in the site. “We have worked closely with Diodes, Texas Instruments and our public sector partners to bring this project to a successful resolution,” said Paul Lewis, managing director of Scottish Development International. “Securing these jobs in Greenock is a terrific outcome for all involved. We look forward to working with the team at Diodes to help them achieve their growth plans for Scotland.”
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