March 19, 2002 – Newport Beach, CA & Washington, DC — Conexant Systems, Inc. and The Carlyle Group have signed a definitive agreement to establish an ISO-9000 certified wafer fab, which will have 100,000 square feet of ISO Class 3 cleanroom space.

Under the terms of the agreement, Carlyle will be the majority owner and Conexant will be a minority holder as well as a customer of the new company. The two companies did not release the name of the new facility, but sources say it will be announced in May.

The Newport Beach–based pure-play foundry will manufacture semiconductor wafers using specialty process technologies such as silicon germanium bipolar CMOS (SiGe BiCMOS), according to published reports. The new facility will have the capacity to support 20,000 eight-inch wafer starts per month.

"The establishment of this independent entity marks the dawn of dedicated specialty silicon foundries, and is an important step in the progression of the semiconductor foundry industry," notes Dr. Shu Li, chief executive officer of the new company.

"Customers can now be served by a pure-play foundry company with cutting-edge specialty technologies, superior product design support services, long-term capacity capabilities and a cost-effective operating structure," Dr. Li adds.