LSI Logic sells Gresham fab for $105 million

LONDON — LSI Logic Corp. said Thursday (April 5) it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Gresham, Oregon semiconductor manufacturing facility to ON Semiconductor Corp.’s primary operating subsidiary, Semiconductor Components Industries LLC, for approximately $105 million in cash.

The agreement calls for SCI to purchase the 83 acre campus, consisting of multiple buildings with approximately 500,000 square feet of floor space, including an estimated 98,000 square feet of cleanroom space, together with tools and equipment.

The assets include the equipment that makes up a fabrication line that that can produce 18,000 wafers per month using 200-mm diameter wafers. On Semiconductor has agreed its subsidiary will offer employment to substantially all of the LSI manufacturing employees based at the Gresham site. The remaining non-manufacturing workforce is expected to continue their employment with LSI. On Semiconductor's subsidiary will also enter into additional agreements with LSI, including a multi-year wafer supply and test agreement, intellectual property license agreement, transition services agreement and a facilities use agreement.

“As a result of today's agreement, we anticipate providing uninterrupted service to customers while enhancing LSI competitiveness as we continue to execute our fabless manufacturing strategy,” said Abhi Talwalkar, president and chief executive officer, LSI Logic, in a statement.

LSI announced plans to sell Gresham and adopt a fabless manufacturing strategy in September 2005. At that time finding and closing a deal was expected to take up to a year LSI Logic now anticipates completing the transaction within the next 45 days.