Wacker Chemie recently approved the conclusion of an irrevocable undertaking with GlobalWafers, a company based in Taiwan. With this, GlobalWafers will acquire German silicon wafer manufacturer Siltronic AG for about $4.53 billion.

“Since we became a minority shareholder in Siltronic in 2017, we have repeatedly expressed our intention to sell our remaining stake in the medium-to-long term,” said Rudolf Staudigl, President & CEO of WACKER, explaining the background to the planned irrevocable undertaking.

“Siltronic has performed extremely well over the last few years. It enjoys a strong position in the global semiconductor-wafer market, has an excellent technology base and is highly profitable. As a result, now is the right time for us to take the next step and pull out of Siltronic completely. The result of the merger of Siltronic and GlobalWafers would be an industry leader that offers an extensive portfolio and can supply all semiconductor customers with cutting-edge products.”

Staudigl also emphasized that WACKER considered GlobalWafers to be a good partner for Siltronic, saying that the two companies complemented each other in terms of both strategy and technology. “Siltronic will essentially be able to maintain its existing business strategy and remain a reliable partner to the European semiconductor industry going forward. Furthermore, the constructive collaboration between management and employee representatives will remain intact. Site closures and forced layoffs have been ruled out in Germany until the end of 2024. We are therefore confident that our intention to sell our stake in Siltronic to GlobalWafers is also a socially responsible corporate decision,” the CEO added.