Talks break down over Siemens wafer fab in Tyneside
By Peter Clarke
EE Times
(02/05/99, 11:50 a.m. EDT)
NORTH TYNESIDE, England — Negotiations with senior management over a buyout of Siemens' semiconductor fabrication facility here have broken down, according to Siemens.
"The negotiations weren't successful," said a spokeswoman for Siemens in the United Kingdom. "There are other negotiations, but time is against us."
The management buyout was being backed by China Telecom, which would have used the facility to make circuits for mobile phones, according to reports.
Siemens made known its intention to sell or close the two-year-old wafer fab in August. The decision on the facility, which was making 16-Mbit DRAMs, was ascribed to the collapse of DRAM prices and to huge losses in the company's semiconductor group.
The plant is currently ramping down operations and its staff has been reduced from 1,100 to 250. Staffing is expected to be reduced to 100 by the end of March.
"Equipment is already being taken out and moved to other sites," the spokeswoman said. "Of course even when it is mothballed, someone may come with an offer."
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