Munich-based semiconductor company Infineon Technologies AG said it agreed to acquire silicon carbide specialist SILTECTRA GmbH from the target's main shareholder, venture capital investor MIG Fonds, in a €124 million deal.
Infineon intends to use Siltectra technology, called Cold Split, to split silicon carbide, or SiC, wafers, thus doubling the number of chips fashioned from one wafer.
"Thanks to the Cold Split technology, the higher number of SiC wafers will make the ramp-up of our SiC products much easier, especially regarding further expansion of renewable energies and the increasing adaptation of SiC for use in the drive train of electrical vehicles," Infineon CEO Reinhard Ploss said.
The Cold Split technology will be industrialized at Siltectra's facility in Dresden, Germany, and at an Infineon site in Villach, Austria. Infineon said the move to volume production should be completed within the next five years.
