Westlake Village, California–Oct. 31, 2000–Diodes Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of high quality discrete semiconductors, has signed a letter of intent to acquire Missouri-based Fabtech Inc. The deal includes a 5-inch wafer foundry that specializes in Schottky products, and a 16,000 sq. ft. cleanroom within a 70,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility formerly owned by AT&T.

“The acquisition of FabTech will take Diodes to the next level and begins to realize our strategic goal of becoming a vertically integrated manufacturer and supplier of discrete semiconductors. This strategy is designed to enable Diodes to accelerate development and introduction of new technology into our products,” says C.H. Chen, president and CEO of Diodes Inc. “FabTech’s wafer foundry provides us with the manufacturing base and top-tier R&D team to develop higher-margin, next-generation semiconductor products.”

FabTech will be acquired from Lite-On Power Semiconductor Corp. for approximately $25 million, with an additional earn-out for meeting specified earnings targets over a 4-year period. Lite-On Power Semiconductor Corp., which is a part of the $4.5 billion Lite-On Group, owns approximately 38% of Diodes outstanding shares. FabTech currently has 210 employees and is expected to generate approximately $20 million in revenues in 2000.

The transaction, subject to various closing conditions, is expected to be completed in early December 2000.