ST acquires remaining 45% stake in silicon carbide wafer maker Norstel AB

STMicroelectronics of Geneva, Switzerland has completed its full acquisition of Norstel AB of Norrkoping, Sweden, which was spun off from Linköping University in 2005 and develops and manufactures 150mm silicon carbide (SiC) bare and epitaxial wafers. ST exercised its option to acquire the remaining 45% stake, following the initial acquisition of a majority 55% stake announced in February. The total consideration for the acquisition of Norstel was $137.5m, funded with available cash.

“At a time of constrained global capacity for silicon carbide, the full acquisition of Norstel will strengthen our internal SiC ecosystem: it will boost our flexibility, allow us to control better the improvement of yield and quality of the wafers, and support our long-term silicon carbide roadmap and business,” says ST’s president & CEO Jean-Marc Chery. “This acquisition comes in addition to wafer supply agreements signed with third parties, with the overall goal to secure the required level of wafers to manufacture MOSFET and diodes for the automotive and industrial customer programs that will ramp up over the next years.”

Norstel will be fully integrated into ST’s global R&D and manufacturing operations. ST says that it will continue growing its activities covering both the production of 150mm bare and epitaxial silicon carbide wafers and R&D on 200mm production as well as, more broadly, on wide-bandgap materials.

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Tags: STMicroelectronics SiC substrates Power electronics SiC MOSFET

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