Intel to acquire Tower Semiconductor as it continues to ramp up chip foundry investment
Chip giant will pay $5.4bn for Israeli-based company just weeks after it announced a $20bn investment into a new site in Ohio
Intel has continued its chip investment drive by announcing it is to acquire Israeli-based Tower Semiconductor for $5.4bn.
The deal creates a "globally diverse end-to-end foundry to help meet growing semiconductor demand" and brings "more value to customers across the nearly $100bn addressable foundry market", Intel claims.
Tower Semiconductor manufactures integrated circuits and has expertise in specialty technologies such as radio frequency (RF), power, silicon-germanium (SiGe) and industrial sensors, extensive IP, and electronic design automation (EDA) partnerships.
"Tower's specialty technology portfolio, geographic reach, deep customer relationships and services-first operations will help scale Intel's foundry services and advance our goal of becoming a major provider of foundry capacity globally," said Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO.
"This deal will enable Intel to offer a compelling breadth of leading-edge nodes and differentiated specialty technologies on mature nodes - unlocking new opportunities for existing and future customers in an era of unprecedented demand for semiconductors."
Intel has accelerated its chip making efforts since Pat Gelsinger took over as CEO last year.
The company established Intel Foundry Services (IFS) in March 2021 aimed at helping to "meet the growing global demand for semiconductor manufacturing capacity" and to "become a major provider of US and Europe-based foundry capacity to serve customers globally".
Gelsinger has been outspoken about his desire for more chips to be made outside of Asia and last month announced it was investing $20bn into two new chip plants in Ohio - which could see the company invest as much as $100bn in the site over the next decade.
Intel also announced a new $1bn fund last week to support both start-ups and established companies in the "foundry ecosystem".