DURHAM – Wolfspeed, committed to spending billions of dollars on semiconductor plant expansion in the U.S. and Germany, has reached private markets for new capital to help fund its infrastructure requirements.
According to Bloomberg News in a report published Sunday, Wolfspeed struck a deal with Apollo Global Management for as much as $2 billion.
The news service cited a “statement seen by Bloomberg.”
Wolfspeed is in the process of building a huge semiconductor plant in Chatham County. Another is planned in Germany. The company also built a new plant in New York and expanded operations in Durham as it seeks to capitalize on the growing electric vehicle industry. Wolfspeed’s chips have found a growing footing in demand for chips to help power EVs.
Wolfspeed CEO Gregg Lowe recently touted the company’s future and the state of the silicon carbide market – Wolfspeed’s primary technology play. Trends toward silicon carbide are “unstoppable,” he said in an interview with CNBC.
The Durham-based company gets access to $1.25 billion “immediately,” Bloomberg said. The other $750 million can be drawn later, the news service added.
“The deal shows how even companies with an established presence in the capital markets are finding it attractive to tap private credit for funding. Wolfspeed chose to go this route to limit the number of parties that would have access to its intellectual property and because the private lenders could provide additional financing at a later date, according to people with knowledge of the matter,” Bloomberg added.
More Wolfspeed news
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