Tower’s fab effort gets needed backing

Midgal Haemek, Israel–Tower Semiconductor has announced agreements with Macronix, Israel Corp., and QuickLogic to complete the $300 million equity funding it lacked to begin the construction of its new 200mm fab.

Macronix has agreed to invest $75 million in Tower, and in return will receive equity, corresponding representation on Tower’s Board of Directors, and committed production capacity in the advanced fab that Tower intends to begin constructing. Israel Corp. is investing $50 million in Tower ordinary shares. QuickLogic is investing $25 million, in return for equity and committed production capacity. The three companies join a group of previously announced investors, including SanDisk Corp. and Alliance Semiconductor.

Tower plans to construct an advanced fab adjacent to its current facility in Migdal Haemek, Israel. The new fab, known as “Fab 2,” will employ approximately 1,000 and produce as many as 33,000 200mm wafers per month in geometries of 0.18 micron and below, according to the company, using advanced CMOS technology from Toshiba.

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