Infineon Buys Cree's Wolfspeed to Expand Power and Wireless Chips

In a surprise reshuffling of the market for advanced semiconductors,Infineon Technologiessaid that it had struck a deal to buyWolfspeed, a division of Cree making power and radio frequency chips.

Infineonis paying $850 million in cash forWolfspeed, which fabricates chips for power management and wireless infrastructure. The deal fits the German chipmaker’s mantra of energy efficiency, connectivity, and mobility. In recent years,Infineon已将可再生能源，自动驾驶汽车和物联网的不断增长的市场押注。

The deal bolstersInfineon’s power management products, adding to a wide array of sensors, radars, and security chips. While the company supplies chips for things like mobile phones, its largest customer is the automotive industry, which is increasingly buying products that manage car batteries and protect against hackers.

Seeking growth in the market for power semiconductors, Reinhardt Ploss,Infineon’s chief executive, has steered the chipmaker toward silicon chip alternatives. With the deal,Infineongains access to new compound semiconductors, which are smaller and more energy-efficient than silicon devices. After years of confinement to military electronics, these chips are finding their way into devices like light bulbs and power inverters.

“Joining forces withWolfspeed代表了一个独特的增长机会，” Ploss在一份声明中说。“这将使我们能够为我们在复合半导体中创新技术和产品组合最广泛，最深的产品组合的客户创造更多价值。”

Wolfspeedis one of the biggest makers of wide bandgap semiconductors, which are capable of handling higher voltages and switching frequencies than silicon chips. Their products are smaller and thinner than conventional chips, cutting energy losses. Its major product is silicon-carbide for power management devices. It has developed a process for layering gallium-nitride material on SiC substrates, forming integrated circuits for wireless applications.

With the deal,Infineonwill take control ofWolfspeed除了相关的芯片制造外，还使用SIC和GAN设备。这些资产包括大约550Wolfspeedemployees and 2000 patents and patent applications. Cree will keep manufacturing substrates used in its main lighting business.

The business thatInfineon在截至3月的财政年度中，购买了1.73亿美元的收入。在2014年，将成为业务Wolfspeedrecorded revenues of $120 million.Infineonplans to close the deal by the end of 2016.

根据Infineon的Ploss，在接下来的几年中，预计硅碳化物芯片将取代电动汽车，充电站和可再生能源系统中的硅组件。例如，可以在内部使用逆变器为电动汽车充电，管理电池并控制电流流入传动系统。

Gan-On-SIC底物正在缓慢地用于卫星，电信和雷达系统中。Wolfspeed’s manufacturing process can handle high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) on massive microwave integrated circuits, which are used in RF power amplifiers. GaN-on-SiC are extremely efficient at frequency bands up to 80 gigahertz, which could be tapped for 5G wireless networks.

The transaction was announced only months after Cree rebranded the business asWolfspeed并开始研究首次公开募股的细节。旋转是一种试图使Cree更加关注其主要的LED照明业务，其中包括芯片和灯泡。Cree首席执行官Chuck Swoboda说出售Wolfspeedwas also meant to refocus its business operations.

After Cree revealed thatWolfspeedwould hold an initial public offering, several companies made offers to buy the business directly, Swoboda said. “After much consideration and due diligence over the past year, we concluded that sellingWolfspeedtoInfineon是最好的决定对于我们的股东,雇佣吗ees and customers,” he said.