Bankrupt Belgian fab shifts to photonic IC production

The administrators of bankrupt chip manufacturer BelGaN have reached an agreement with an unnamed European investor that could see photonic chip production at the site, according to the Belga News Agency.

A European bidder for the site has plans to invest between €200 million and €250 million, the report said. This could create up to 500 jobs. However, a deal is not yet done and one Chinese and one Indian bidder are said to remain interested.

The new owner will take over a fab shell with two large cleanrooms at Oudenaarde, East Flanders for €20.35 million but with no machinery, which has already been auctioned.

“I suspect that negotiations are still ongoing about the manner and extent of the investment. But it’s confirmed that it concerns chip production. There is a business plan for photonic chip production,” the reported quoted administrator Ali Heerman saying.

An advance payment of €2 million was requested and paid, the report said.

The previous plan was for gallium-nitride chip production but the company that set up in 2022 with a plan to convert a wafer fab from silicon to gallium-nitride production ran out of cash and filed for bankruptcy in 2024.

The existence of three candidates to buy the site has been reported previously. One of the bidders is reported to be Chinese-owned Silex Microsystems AB (Järfälla, Sweden), the world’s largest pure-play foundry for MEMS components.

A European bidder for the site has plans to invest between €200 million and €250 million, the report said. This could create up to 500 jobs. However, a deal is not yet done and one Chinese and one Indian bidder are said to remain interested.

The new owner will take over a fab shell with two large cleanrooms at Oudenaarde, East Flanders for €20.35 million but with no machinery, which has already been auctioned.

“I suspect that negotiations are still ongoing about the manner and extent of the investment. But it’s confirmed that it concerns chip production. There is a business plan for photonic chip production,” the reported quoted administrator Ali Heerman saying.