Soitec has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire EpiGaN, a leading European supplier of GaN epitaxial wafer (epi-wafer) materials, for €30 Million in cash, plus an additional earn-out payment based on completion of certain milestones. EpiGaN’s GaN products are used primarily within RF 5G, power electronics, and sensor applications, with the total addressable market of GaN technologies estimated to be between 500,000 to 1M wafers per year within five years.
In the mobility space the co-optimization of performance, low power and cost is key. The arrival of 5G sub 6 GHz and mm-Wave is driving new generations of base stations, compared with 4G, which in turn require more energy-efficient, higher performing, smaller, and more affordable power amplifiers (PA). Soitec will expand its engineered substrates offering for PA with GaN leading the way in today’s smaller, lighter, more efficient and cost-effective base station designs.
In addition, the EpiGaN acquisition also creates new complementary growth opportunities across Soitec’s existing Power-SOI products given GaN’s use in power transistor designs. Both Power-SOI and GaN address the requirements for integrating high-voltage and analog functions in intelligent, energy-efficient and highly reliable power IC devices, for use in consumer electronics, data center, automotive and industrial markets. EpiGaN will be integrated as one of Soitec’s business units.
