TI-Acer JV to Become Acer Subsidiary
Staff -- Semiconductor International, 6/1/1998
The Acer Group (Tapei, Taiwan) and Texas Instruments (TI, Dallas, Texas) have agreed for Acer to purchase TI's shares in the TI-Acer memory chip joint venture in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Under terms of the agreement, Acer will continue to operate the manufacturing facility, maintaining the existing workforce of ~1500 employees. The facility is to operate under the name of Acer Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc. (ASMI).
The TI-Acer facility includes one 200 mm wafer fab line and one 150 mm line, and produces 16Mb and 64Mb DRAMs using 0.28 µm (280 nm) technology. During a transition period, TI will continue to purchase 16Mb and 64Mb DRAM products from this facility.
The agreement includes terms for a 10-year patent cross-license agreement. ASMI is to be licensed to manufacture its own products as well as to act as a foundry for the products of other companies.
The joint-venture company was established in 1989. Presently, Acer holds 48% of the company's voting shares, TI holds 33% and other investors hold the remaining 19%. The transaction is subject to certain third-party approvals and is expected to close within the second quarter. Financial terms were not disclosed.
