Canadian semiconductor company GaN Systems Inc. has agreed to be acquired by Germany-based chip maker Infineon Technologies AG for US$830 million.
The all-cash deal for the Ottawa-headquartered company, which is scaling up technology to serve the automotive industry and a spread of other sectors, was announced May 2.
GaN Systems CEO Jim Witham said the acquisition brings together firms with “complementary strengths.”
“Combining GaN Systems’ foundry corridors with Infineon’s in-house manufacturing capability enables maximum growth capability to serve the accelerating adoption of GaN in a big selection of our goal markets,” he said in a release.
GaN Systems designs high-efficiency power transistors product of gallium nitride, or GaN. They’re each smaller and more efficient than their traditional silicon counterparts. The corporate is targeting a spread of end markets, with electric vehicles chief amongst them. Witham told Automotive News Canada in late 2021 that nine out of 10 global automakers and Tier 1 suppliers were considering the corporate’s transistors in designs for his or her next-generation vehicles and parts.
A pair of auto players even have direct stakes within the business. Parts supplier Vitesco Technologies Group and the enterprise capital arm of BMW are amongst GaN Systems’ investors.
Infineon CEO Jochen Hanebeck, said GaN technology is poised to interrupt right into a series of various industries, and that the acquisition will speed the corporate’s entry into the market.
“The planned acquisition of GaN Systems will significantly speed up our GaN roadmap, based on unmatched R&D resources, application understanding and customer project pipeline,” he said in a release.
Unlike the Canadian company, which is what’s referred to as a “fabless” chip maker since it designs but doesn’t fabricate its own products, Infineon has its own chip foundry in Austria, and one other planned for Malaysia.
GaN Systems employs greater than 200 people, mainly at offices in Ottawa and Taiwan.
The acquisition stays subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.