GlobalFoundries announced a new fab expansion plan
Earlier news indicated that Intel is seeking to acquire GlobalFoundries, the transaction amount maybe $30 billion. The two sides are still in the early stages of negotiations. However, no matter what the result is, GlobalFoundries has been very active and aggressive in business recently. Compared with the cessation of research and development of advanced processes, the sale of fabs, and business shrinkage a few years ago, GlobalFoundries is now on the road to expansion.
Recently, GlobalFoundries announced that the Fab 8 facility located in northern New York will be gradually expanded in the next few years. GlobalFoundries will invest $1 billion to upgrade the production lines of existing fabs, increasing the output of 150,000 wafers per year. In addition, a new fab will be built in the same park, and the production capacity will be doubled by then. GlobalFoundries said that fabs located in Singapore and Germany will also be expanded to solve the problem of global chip supply shortages.
In addition to investing in production capacity, GlobalFoundries has recently organized its business and comprehensively changed its brand identity to reshape its brand image. From this point of view, it is difficult to imagine that this is a company that is undergoing acquisition negotiations. GlobalFoundries CEO Tom Caulfield said in a private event recently that their fabs cover 70% of the processes required by the market, and at this stage, they are producing at full speed to meet market demand.
Currently, GlobalFoundries is wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company, a state-controlled UAE state-controlled company, and adheres to the listing plan. There have been rumors that GlobalFoundries is likely to choose to cooperate with Morgan Stanley as the underwriter for the listing, and the IPO time may be advanced, from 2022 to the end of 2021. GlobalFoundries is expected to generate approximately $6.2 billion in revenue in 2021, an increase of 9% compared to 2020.