Specialty foundry TowerJazz (which has fabrication plants at Tower Semiconductor Ltd in Migdal Haemek, Israel, and at its subsidiaries Jazz Semiconductor Inc in Newport Beach, CA, USA and TowerJazz Japan Ltd) has signed a definitive five-year term loan agreement with Japanese banks JA Mitsui Leasing Ltd, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Ltd and Showa Leasing Co Ltd to provide its Japan-based joint venture TowerJazz Panasonic Semiconductor Company (TPSCo) with an additional long-term loan of 8.5bn Yen (about $70m).
The term loan will carry an annual interest of the TIBOR rate plus 2% per annum, will mature by fourth-quarter 2020, and will be repaid in seven equal semi-annual installments commencing on the second anniversary of the signing of the agreement.
The new loan is in addition to the initial 8.8bn Yen loan announced in June 2014, which will be repaid commencing in 2016, with 2.5bn Yen to be paid during that year.
TPSCo was established by Panasonic Corp, 51% of which was acquired by Tower Semiconductor Ltd in early 2014 and 49% of which is now held by Panasonic Semiconductor Solutions Co Ltd. TPSCo has three manufacturing facilities in Hokuriku, Japan which have been producing large-scale integrated circuits for over 30 years. Areas of process technology focus include: high-dynamic-range image sensors (CIS and CCD) and integrated power devices (BCD, SOI and LDMOS) as well as high-frequency silicon RF-CMOS.
“We are excited to see the great progress and growth that TowerJazz Panasonic Semiconductor Company made since its establishment, and its future forecasts, all well ahead of its original business plan submitted to us nearly two years ago,” says Kiyoshi Doi, division director, Global Business Division, JA Mitsui Leasing.
“This agreement is a strong enabler for our ongoing business and operational growth strategy and will support our plans to further expand our capabilities and customer base, while strengthening our financial results,” believes TPSCo’s chief financial officer Amit Mappa.
