UMC Acquires 300mm Fujitsu Fab

Article By : Jonas Klar, EE Times Asia

MIFS fab, previously part of joint venture now under UMC umbrella

TAIPEI — UMC has announced that it has acquired Mie Fujitsu Semiconductor (MIFS) in a bid to boost its 300mm wafer production capacities. Having previously already owned a 15.9 percent stake in MIFS, UMC assumes ownership of the remaining 84.1 percent of shares in a 57.6 billion JPY deal, equivalent to approximately $520 million USD.

“UMC is experiencing high demand from mature 12″ processes. With new applications in 5G, IoT, automotive and AI requiring these technologies, we anticipate the market conditions driving this demand to remain strong for the foreseeable future. The acquisition of a fully qualified, equipped, and volume production proven 12″ facility provides greater time and ROI advantages compared to building a fab from scratch, which would cost several billion dollars and several years to construct and equip,” commented UMC co-president Jason Wang.

The Mie facility will be UMC’s first facility in Japan, sitting alongside its other 300mm facilities in Tainan, Xiamen and Singapore.

— Jonas Klar is an editor for EE Times Asia