Infineon to acquire GaN Systems, strengthening its GaN portfolio and further reinforcing its global leadership in Power Systems
March 03, 2023 at 11:50 am
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Germany - Infineon Technologies AG (FSE: IFX / OTCQX: IFNNY) and GaN Systems Inc. ('GaN Systems') today announced that the companies have signed a definitive agreement under which Infineon will acquire GaN Systems for US$830 million.
GaN Systems is a global technology leader in the development of GaN-based solutions for power conversion. The company is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, and has more than 200 employees.
'GaN technology is paving the way for more energy-efficient and CO 2-saving solutions that support decarbonization. Adoption in applications like mobile charging, data center power supplies, residential solar inverters, and onboard chargers for electric vehicles is at the tipping point, leading to a dynamic market growth,' said Jochen Hanebeck, CEO of Infineon. 'The planned acquisition of GaN Systems will significantly accelerate our GaN roadmap, based on unmatched R&D resources, application understanding and customer project pipeline. Following our strategy, the combination will further strengthen Infineon's leadership in Power Systems through mastery of all relevant power technologies, be it on silicon, silicon carbide or gallium nitride.'
Jim Witham, CEO of GaN Systems, said: 'The GaN Systems team is excited about teaming up with Infineon to create highly differentiating customer offerings, based on bringing together complementary strengths. With our joint expertise in providing superior solutions, we will optimally leverage the potential of GaN. Combining GaN Systems' foundry corridors with Infineon's in-house manufacturing capacity enables maximum growth capability to serve the accelerating adoption of GaN in a wide range of our target markets. I am very proud of what GaN Systems has accomplished so far and cannot wait to help write the next chapter together with Infineon. As an integrated device manufacturer with a broad technology capability, Infineon enables us to unleash our full potential.'
As a wide bandgap material, GaN offers customer value by higher power density, higher efficiency, and size reductions, especially at higher switching frequencies. These properties enable energy savings and smaller form factors, making GaN suited for a wide range of applications. By 2027, market analysts expect the GaN revenue for power applications to grow by 56% CAGR to approx. US$2 billion (source: Yole, Compound Semiconductor Market Monitor-Module I Q4 2022). As such, GaN is becoming a key material for power semiconductors, alongside silicon and silicon-carbide, and coupled with new topologies, such as Hybrid Flyback and multi-level implementations. In February 2022, Infineon announced doubling down on wide bandgap by investing more than EUR2 billion in a new frontend fab in Kulim, Malaysia, strengthening its market position. The first wafers will leave the fab in the second half of 2024, adding to Infineon's existing wide bandgap manufacturing capacities in Villach, Austria.
The planned acquisition of GaN Systems in an all-cash transaction will be funded from existing liquidity. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
About GaN Systems
GaN Systems is a global leader in GaN power semiconductors with a broad portfolio of transistors which address the needs of today's most demanding industries including consumer electronics, data center servers and power supplies, renewable energy systems, industrial motors, and automotive electronics.
About Infineon
Infineon Technologies AG is a global semiconductor leader in power systems and IoT. Infineon drives decarbonization and digitalization with its products and solutions. The company has around 56,200 employees worldwide and generated revenue of about EUR14.2 billion in the 2022 fiscal year (ending 30 September). Infineon is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: IFX) and in the USA on the OTCQX International over-the-counter market (ticker symbol: IFNNY).
Infineon Technologies AG is one of the world's leading manufacturers of semiconductors. The group's products include power semiconductors, sensors, microcontrollers, digital, mixed-signal and analog ICs, discrete semiconductor modules, switches, interface ICs, motor-controlling ICs, RF power transistors, voltage regulators, and electronic safety components. Net sales break down by area of activity as follows:
- automotive (50.5%): semiconductor products used in the automotive industry, and memory products for specific applications for automotive, industrial, information technologies, telecommunications and consumer electronics.
- power & sensor systems (23.3%): semiconductors for energy-efficient power supplies, mobile devices, mobile phone network infrastructures, human-machine interaction as well as applications with special demands on their robustness and reliability.
- industrial power control (13.5%): semiconductor products for the conversion of electrical energy for small, medium and high-power applications, used in the manufacturing, the low-loss transmission, the storage and the efficient use of electrical energy;
- connected secure systems (12.6%): semiconductors for networked devices, card-based applications, and government documents; microcontrollers for industrial, entertainment, and household applications, components for connectivity systems, various customer support systems;
- other (0.1%).
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: Germany (12.4%), Europe/Middle East/Africa (14.4%), China/Hong Kong/Taiwan (32.3%), Japan (10.5%), Asia/Pacific (15.9%), the United States (12.1%) and Americas (2.4%).