NEW YORK (AP) — Chip maker Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. said Friday it will buy a microchip wafer factory in Singapore for $233 million.
Chartered will buy the plant along with its controlling company, Hitachi Semiconductor Singapore Pte. Ltd., from Hitachi Ltd. and Hitachi Asia Ltd.
Chartered said the deal will enable it to meet customers' additional requirements and attract new business.
The transaction also includes a manufacturing agreement to supply approximately $250 million to $300 million worth of wafers to Renesas Technology Corp., an existing customer of the Singapore plant.
Chartered expects the deal to close at the end of the 2008 first quarter and expects to fund it from cash and borrowings.
It does not expect the deal to affect its 2008 earnings.
Wafers, typically made from silicon, are the base on which microchip circuits are layered.
Chartered makes chips for technology companies and other semiconductor manufacturers. Customers include Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Broadcom Corp.
