Tuesday, August 12, 2014
A number of semiconductor firms, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Micron Technology, Globalfoundries and Toshiba, are likely to participate in an open bid for taking over an idle 12-inch fab owned by ProMOS Technologies, according to industry sources.
The 12-inch fab, located in Taichung Science Park (TSP), has been idle since March 2013 after ProMoS sold the bulk of production equipment of the fab to Globalfoundries. But the fab has completed the construction of its cleanroom and can resume operations if production equipment is reinstalled, said the sources.
Globalfoundries reportedly also made an offer to buy the cleanroom when it signed the deal to purchase the equipment of the fab in 2013, but the proposal was turned down by ProMOS' creditor banks.
TSMC confirmed that it has already examined the 12-fab, but has not decided whether to participate in the bidding.
But it comes as a surprise that Toshiba has expressed an interest in taking over the 12-inch fab, given that the Japan-based NAND flash chip vendor has never set up fabs outside Japan and that the idle 12-inch fab is too big for the firm, said the sources.
The bid is likely to finalize at the end of August at the earliest, said the sources, noting that the deal is expected to amount to NT$5-6 billion (US$166.58-199.89 million).
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