News

Diodes Incorporated to Acquire Texas Instruments Wafer Fab in Greenock, Scotland

February 05, 2019 by Scott McMahan

Diodes Incorporated reported that it has agreed to acquire Texas Instruments' (TI) wafer fabrication facility and operation located in Greenock, Scotland (GFAB). Upon closing of the transaction, Diodes will integrate the Greenock facility and fab operations, including the transfer of all GFAB employees to Diodes.

Also, as part of a multi-year wafer supply agreement, Diodes will continue to produce TI's Analog products from GFAB as TI transfers these analog products into its other wafer fabs.

TI's 318,782 square-foot facility has a potential capacity of up to 21,666 wafer starts or up to 256,000 of 8" equivalent layers per month, depending on the product mix. (See an image of the TI facility in Greenock, Scotland above).

"The proposed acquisition of GFAB aligns well with our strategic plan for significant revenue and profit dollar growth over the next several years," said Diodes' President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Keh-Shew Lu. "GFAB offers Diodes additional wafer fab capacity to support our product growth, in particular, our automotive expansion initiatives, as well as excellent engineering skills and wafer fab know-how to support our technical and operational performance expectations. This transaction meets our criteria for strategic acquisitions, and we expect it to be immediately accretive."

"We look forward to welcoming the GFAB team into the Diodes' family," Lu said. "In addition, Diodes extends our appreciation to the Scottish Government, Scottish Development International, and Inverclyde Council, who have worked to facilitate this transaction."

Welcoming the agreement, Jamie Hepburn MSP, Scottish Government Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills, said, "I am pleased that Texas Instruments and Diodes have reached an agreement that will see continued production and employment in Greenock. The positive approach we have taken has helped to support this outcome and securing these jobs in Greenock would be a terrific result for all involved. The Scottish Government and its agencies will continue to work closely with Diodes, Texas Instruments, and our public sector partners to put this project on a path towards a successful conclusion."

As part of the activity of a task force established in 2016 when the potential closure of the GFAB facility was announced, Scottish Enterprise and Inverclyde Council have proposed considerable support for Diodes' future investment in GFAB. Inverclyde Council Leader and chair of the task force, Councilor Stephen McCabe, said, "This is an excellent outcome for both Inverclyde and Scotland. Diodes will help protect jobs in the area and is a further endorsement of Inverclyde as a business location. The positive approach of all partners involved in the task force has helped to support this development, and we look forward to working together to make sure this is a success."

Also commenting on the acquisition, Paul Lewis, managing director of Scottish Development International, said, "We have worked closely with Diodes, Texas Instruments and our public sector partners to bring this project to a successful resolution. Securing these jobs in Greenock is a terrific outcome for all involved. We look forward to working with the team at Diodes to help them achieve their growth plans for Scotland."

The closing of the transaction is subject to standard closing conditions and is expected to be completed at the end of the first quarter of 2019. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.