Infineon Technologies plans to acquire the Canadian semiconductor manufacturer GaN Systems for $830 million, as announced on March 2, 2023. The company, headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, has around 200 employees and develops power conversion semiconductors for power conversion in electric vehicles, servers, solar and wind energy, smart grid circuits and lithium battery management.
According to Infineon's CEO Jochen Hanebeck, applications such as mobile charging, power supply for data centers, solar inverters for private households and onboard chargers for electric vehicles are on the verge of a breakthrough. The planned acquisition of GaN Systems will strengthen Infineon's position in the field of power systems, whether on silicon, silicon carbide or gallium nitride. Gallium nitride (GaN) is regarded as a new wonder material. Particularly in the area of chargers, it offers the advantage that the same performance can be achieved as with conventional chargers due to its better conductivity in a smaller design.
According to Infineon, GaN is developing into a key material for power semiconductors alongside silicon and silicon carbide, in conjunction with new topologies such as hybrid flyback and multi-level implementations. It enables even higher switching speeds than SiC, and GaN wafers are easier and cheaper to produce.
With the investment of around €2 billion in a new front-end factory in Kulim (Malaysia), Infineon announced an expansion of its commitment to wide-bandgap in February 2022. The first wafers are scheduled to leave production in the second half of 2024 and will complement Infineon's existing wide-bandgap production capacities in Villach (Austria).
According to Infineon, the planned acquisition of GaN Systems will be financed from existing cash and cash equivalents. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
www.gansystems.com/
www.infineon.com
