Fujitsu buying Spansion fabs in Japan

September 28, 2006 – Spansion Japan Ltd. is selling two of its older semiconductor fabs in Japan to Fujitsu Ltd. for approximately $150 million, to help Spansion refocus resources on its 300mm and 45nm efforts, and boost Fujitsu’s foundry business for standard logic LSI devices.

Under terms of the deal, Fujitsu will pay $150 million in cash in calendar 2Q07 for Spansion’s JV1 and JV2 manufacturing facilities, which are located adjacent to Fujitsu’s Aizu-Wakamatsu fab in northeastern Japan. Fujitsu will utilize the facilities to supply Spansion’s “MirrorBit” NOR flash memory products on a foundry basis, and will make other logic LSI devices for other customers.

Spansion says it will reassign a portion of the workforce from JV1 and JV2 to accelerate completion of its SP1 300mm facility, also in Aizu-Wakamatsu, where it is planning to ramp 45nm process technology. Spansion’s newer JV3 facility will be designated as the company’s primary internal aluminum metal layer factory, with the capability to pick up legacy and current product output previously done at JV1 and JV2.

After the transfer of JV1 and JV2, Spansion says its flash memory capabilities will include 110nm capacity at JV3 in Japan; 90nm capacity at its Fab 25 in Austin, TX, with a planned transition to 65nm in 2007; and 45nm capacity at the SP1 facility, with 65nm a possibility depending on market conditions. Spansion also has foundry relationships with TSMC for 110nm and 90nm MirrorBit technology, and with Fujitsu for JV1 and JV2, as well as floating-gate aluminum metal layer products on 320nm, 230nm, and 200nm nodes.

Spansion was previously a joint venture of AMD and Fujitsu, launched in 1993 as Fujitsu AMD Semiconductor Ltd. (FASL), before being rebranded as Spansion in 2003, and spun off in a $500 million IPO in Dec. 2005.

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