BelGaN acquires ON Semiconductor Belgium fab
Company aims to build 'GaN Valley' in Belgium combining Imec’s GaN power device technology and BelGaN's GaN and automotive experience
BelGaN Group BV has completed the acquisition of all shares of ON Semiconductor Belgium BV from the Onsemi group. The site in Oudenaarde (pictured above) will be transformed from silicon to GaN.
BelGaN aims to become a leading 6 inch and 8 inch GaN automotive semiconductor foundry in Europe. Part of its vision is to develop a growing ecosystem in Europe and beyond for GaN-based chips and power electronics with applications, amongst others, in EV, Mobile, industrial, data centre and renewable energy markets. This is well aligned with the European ambition for greater chip autonomy (European Chips Act) and a carbon-neutral society (Green Deal).
“After starting my career in Bell Labs with a Doctoral Fellowship 30 years ago, I have witnessed the success and growth of Silicon Valley by commercializing Bell Labs inventions”, said Alan Zhou, CEO of BelGaN BV, “I envision an opportunity of a lifetime to build the 'GaN Valley' in Belgium by leveraging Imec’s next generation GaN power device innovations with BelGaN team’s more than 10 years of GaN technologies development and more than 30 years of automotive semiconductor manufacturing experiences”.
Marnix Tack, CTO and VP Business Development at BelGaN, states: “GaN is a new generation of semiconductor material for power devices that enables more energy-efficient and faster charging, higher power density and greater energy savings for mobile, industrial, electrical vehicle and renewable energy markets. The global market for GaN power chips is currently estimated at around $100 million per year and is expected to accelerate to more than $1 billion per year within the next 5 years”.
Rob Willems, general manager and VP Operations of BelGaN BV, noted: “We are proud to announce the start of BelGaN, a new and exciting chapter in the history of our semiconductor company in Belgium. The 400+ current employees will remain on board. In addition, BelGaN is planning to expand and hire a variety of extra profiles from operators to engineers. GaN power chips will be a game changer in the electric automotive and many other sectors and an important step towards a more sustainable future.”
