April 8, 2002 –Frankfurt, Germany– Pure-play foundry Communicant Semiconductor Technologies AG (Communicant) received $325M of private funding to start construction of its foundry.
The facility is expected to cost $1.3 billion to construct. The remaining $975 million will be funded by government incentives and loan guarantees. Communicant and its investors, Intel Corp., The Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority and the Investment Bank of the State of Brandenburg signed binding agreements to construct the foundry, which is slated for completion in the winter of 2003, according to company reports.
"The achievement of this key milestone in a most difficult capital market is a measure of the attractiveness of the concept of a differentiated foundry, and the outstanding technologies we offer," notes Dr. Klaus Wiemer, Communicant’s CEO.
At full capacity, the foundry will have an output of 30,000 eight-inch wafers per month.