[News] Micron to Acquire AUO Plants in Taiwan for HBM Expansion, Deal to Close by Year-End

Following TSMC’s recent acquisition of Innolux’s Tainan plant for NTD 17 billion, another Taiwanese panel maker, AUO, announced on August 27 that it will sell three idled manufacturing facilities in Tainan, Southern Taiwan as well, as memory giant Micron emerged as the buyer.

Part of buildings and facilities located in Taichung, central Taiwan, would also be sold to Micron. According to a report from Economic Daily News, the total transaction amount is NTD 8.1 billion, with an estimated profit of NTD 4.718 billion, as the deal is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

The same report indicates that after Micron’s failed attempt to acquire Innolux’s 4th Plant in Tainan (5.5-generation LCD panel plant), it turned to AUO for a plant purchase.

To focus on its operational strategy, revitalize assets, and optimize its financial structure, AUO’s board of directors has approved the sale, the report suggests. By acquiring the facilities, Micron plans to further expand its DRAM business in Taiwan, with expectations to develop high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI applications.

Industry sources cited by the report have further interpreted the recent plant sales by Taiwan’s leading panel manufacturers as a sign of the rising influence of Chinese LCD companies like BOE and CSOT.

With the Chinese companies dominating the LCD industry, Taiwanese panel manufacturers are moving away from volume-based competition and are gradually selling off plants to mitigate risks associated with price fluctuations in the panel market. Micron’s active investments in Taiwan further strengthen the country’s semiconductor cluster advantage.

Reportedly, AUO pointed out that it originally had three color filter plants in Tainan: the Gen-4 C4A, the Gen-5 C5D, and the Gen-6 C6C.

Among them, the C5D and C6C plants were closed last August, leaving only the C4A plant in production. All three plants are being sold to Micron, with the C4A plant continuing operations under a sale-and-leaseback arrangement.

Micron stated that its operations in Taiwan are designed to meet the growing product demands of the AI era and to reinforce Micron’s market leadership. Through this acquisition, Micron plans to leverage this site to focus on front-end wafer testing,  to supporting the ongoing expansion of DRAM production at Micron’s Taichung and Taoyuan facilities.

Read more

• [News] Micron Advances in Acquiring Innolux’s Southern Taiwan Facility After TSMC Outbids It for the G5.5 Plant
• [News] TSMC Acquires Innolux’s Plant in Southern Taiwan to Expand Advanced Packaging Capacity

(Photo credit: Micron)