Advanced Electronic Systems (AES) has agreed to buy IBM Corp.’s and Infineon Technologies’ shares in Altis Semiconductor, with its manufacturing site in Corbeil-Essonnes, France. The terms of the agreement, which are subject to governmental and regulatory approval and works council consultation, have not been disclosed but the acquisition is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter of 2007.
AES, located in Zurich, Switzerland, is a Swiss affiliate of Global Information Services (GIS), a Russian-based holding company, while Altis, an Infineon and IBM joint venture since 1999, mainly manufactures semiconductor components for communications, automotive and security applications in 250 to 130 nm technologies.
Under the terms of the current agreement, AES will purchase the equity, which includes the real estate and technology assets of Altis, and has agreed to maintain the level of industrial activity in the company. Also, Infineon and IBM have agreed to license key manufacturing process technologies to AES for use in Altis in the future. AES plans to use the Altis facility to manufacture European and Russian designed products and to open a semiconductor design center at the location.
”We are very pleased to acquire a state-of-the-art manufacturing site with Altis’s history and experience,” said Alexander Kalinin, member of the GIS Board of Directors. “The expertise and skills of the Altis employees is an asset as is the supply agreement with Infineon. We are committed to extending the customer portfolio as well as to licensing additional technologies from IBM and Infineon. We see this acquisition as a natural process of the internationalization of hi-tech businesses, and we are looking forward to continuing the excellent cooperation with IBM and Infineon in implementing new technologies in Altis.”