April 8, 2010 – SUMCO is putting its semiconductor wafer manufacturing facility near Cincinnati, OH, up for sale, seeking buyers from "alternative advanced technology" areas including solar PV, batteries, and even data centers.

The 30-year-old site, located on 100 acres about 30 miles north of Cincinnati, is set up to process 125-200mm substrates and epitaxial wafers for discrete semiconductors used in various electronic devices from transistors to diodes to controllers to ignition systems. Facilities total 200,000 sq. ft, including >70,000 sq. ft of Class 100-10,000 cleanroom manufacturing space. The company says the site "has undergone comprehensive modernization and expansion" with "leading-edge production equipment and statistical tools," and includes "exceptional water/sewer capacity and dual-source power supply."

"We will seek out alternative advanced-technology users, including solar, defense and battery manufacturers, datacenters and others that would benefit from SUMCO’s highly advanced infrastructure," according to Doug Barrett, SVP and director of Advanced Technology Real Estate Group (ATREG), in a statement.

ATREG, a unit of Collier’s International, is a well-known seller of chip facilities to new owners. In the last year alone it’s managed sales of fabs in the US and Europe, ranging in size from 150mm through 300mm, for the likes of Qimonda, NXP, IDT, Freescale, and Atmel.