Infineon to acquire GaN Systems
$830 million acquisition will strengthen GaN portfolio and power system expertise
Infineon Technologies intends to acquire Ottawa-based GaN Systems for $830 million. The planned acquisition is an all-cash transaction and will be subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
“GaN technology is paving the way for more energy-efficient and CO2-saving solutions that support decarbonization. Adoption in applications like mobile charging, data center power supplies, residential solar inverters, and onboard chargers for electric vehicles is at the tipping point, leading to a dynamic market growth,” said Jochen Hanebeck, CEO of Infineon (pictured above).
“The planned acquisition of GaN Systems will significantly accelerate our GaN roadmap, based on unmatched R&D resources, application understanding and customer project pipeline. Following our strategy, the combination will further strengthen Infineon’s leadership in Power Systems through mastery of all relevant power technologies, be it on silicon, SiC or GaN.”
Jim Witham, CEO of GaN Systems, said: “The GaN Systems team is excited about teaming up with Infineon to create highly differentiating customer offerings, based on bringing together complementary strengths. With our joint expertise in providing superior solutions, we will optimally leverage the potential of GaN. Combining GaN Systems’ foundry corridors with Infineon’s in-house manufacturing capacity enables maximum growth capability to serve the accelerating adoption of GaN in a wide range of our target markets. I am very proud of what GaN Systems has accomplished so far and cannot wait to help write the next chapter together with Infineon. As an integrated device manufacturer with a broad technology capability, Infineon enables us to unleash our full potential.”
By 2027, market analysts expect the GaN revenue for power applications to grow by 56 percent CAGR to approx. $2 billion (source: Yole, Compound Semiconductor Market Monitor-Module I Q4 2022). As such, GaN is becoming a key material for power semiconductors, alongside silicon and SiC, and coupled with new topologies, such as Hybrid Flyback and multi-level implementations.
In February 2022, Infineon announced doubling down on wide bandgap by investing more than €2 billion in a new frontend fab in Kulim, Malaysia, strengthening its market position. The first wafers will leave the fab in the second half of 2024, adding to Infineon’s existing wide bandgap manufacturing capacities in Villach, Austria.
