Japanese fund buys ON Semiconductor chip factory for $135 million

A Japanese fund backed by the Japan Development Bank and Itochu Corporation is buying a semiconductor factory owned by U.S. manufacturer Onsemi for more than 20 billion yen ($135 million), the Nikkei Asian Review reported. .

The factory in Niigata will be equipped with the latest production facilities and will start contract manufacturing of semiconductors for electric vehicles (EVs) in December.

Onsemi's official website shows that there are currently two wafer fabrication plants in Niigata, which were acquired after the acquisition of Sanyo Semiconductor in 2011, mainly for 5-inch and 6-inch wafer manufacturing.

In fact, as early as August 2020, ON Semiconductor announced that it was considering the sale of its Niigata factory in Otani, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The company said the sale of the Niigata plant is part of the company's restructuring plan to optimize its manufacturing base and focus more on highly differentiated power-related electronic components and sensor products

It is reported that the Niigata plant was originally the main semiconductor plant of the Sanyo Electric Group acquired by ON Semiconductor in 2011. The plant has passed the automotive quality certification and meets the requirements of IATF 16949 (the global industry standard for quality control). Currently, the company manufactures BCD, BiCMOS, CMOS and semiconductor discrete devices at its Niigata plant.