SkyWater Turns Vintage Chip Plant into ‘Open-Access’ Savior of U.S. Manufacturing
SkyWater rebrands an aging chip fab as a cornerstone of national security, proving that with enough buzzwords and debt, even legacy silicon can shine.
In today’s final dispatch for June, we bring you the heartwarming tale of a 200 mm semiconductor fab, abandoned by Infineon like a Nokia flip phone, and heroically adopted by SkyWater Technology, who promptly declared it a symbol of U.S. semiconductor dominance and gave it a new name: Fab 25 — because apparently “Fab 404: Node Not Found” didn’t test well with investors.
In a press release so dense it could be used as structural steel in a chip plant, SkyWater announced the $73 million acquisition of this vintage wafer facility, plus $20 million in working capital (read: "snacks and server fans"), all backed by a cool $350 million revolving credit facility. You know it’s serious when “revolving credit” makes a cameo before the product roadmap does.
🔧 From "Captive" to "Open-Access": Freedom Never Looked So 200mm
Once the exclusive playground of an integrated device manufacturer (IDM), Fab 25 has now been liberated into the glorious world of open-access foundries — which, in semiconductor terms, means anyone with a PO and a dream can queue up for capacity at a site built for chips from the Bush administration.
But don’t worry — SkyWater says this fab’s copper-processing, high-voltage, 65 nm infrastructure is “increasingly scarce” in the U.S., which is another way of saying “obsolete almost everywhere else.”
Still, if your national security strategy involves embedded microcontrollers, RF modules, or defense tech that proudly runs on something between a Tamagotchi and a Tesla key fob, SkyWater has your back.
📈 Financing the Future, One Buzzword at a Time
The financials read like a Mad Libs sheet for PE interns:
- $73M upfront
- $20M in working capital
- $350M in credit to “fund upfront acquisition costs as well as ongoing capital expenditures, working capital requirements, and general corporate purposes,” which sounds suspiciously like paying interns in stock options and asking ChatGPT to write their job descriptions.
Even more inspiring: the PR assures us this move will contribute “strong adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow generation,” which is corporate for “Don’t ask us about GAAP.”
🛡️ Defense, Auto, and Industrial: The Holy Trinity of Legacy Chip Markets
According to CEO Thomas Sonderman, this acquisition is a “pivotal moment” in the campaign to “advance supply chain resilience” and “enhance U.S. competitiveness” — while quietly absorbing 1,000 Infineon employees, most of whom are probably wondering how to convert their security badges and whether the new cafeteria accepts real money or just SkyWater tokens.
And yes, there’s a long-term supply agreement to make sure Infineon still gets its chips. So really, it’s like adopting your neighbor’s cat but letting them still feed it on Tuesdays.
🏁 Closing Thoughts from the End of June
So to recap:
- SkyWater now owns a decades-old fab.
- It's calling it “foundational” because saying “legacy” hurts morale.
- They’re pitching it as essential to national security, industrial growth, and American manufacturing, which is a lot of weight for a 200 mm wafer to carry.
- And they’re offering tours. Seriously. There’s a form on the website.
In other words: Fab 25 is open for business. And nostalgia.
