6 July 2018

Epistar spinning off foundry subsidiary Jingcheng Semiconductor

© Semiconductor Today Magazine / Juno PublishiPicture: Disco’s DAL7440 KABRA laser saw.

The board of directors of Taiwan-based LED epitaxial wafer and chip manufacturer Epistar Corp has passed a resolution to allocate NT$1bn in enterprise value (about US$33m) to its newly established subsidiary in exchange for 100 million shares of Jingcheng Semiconductor, whose newly issued common stock will be traded at NT$10 per share. Jingcheng’s president will be Dr Ming-Jiunn Jou, who has hence stepped aside as president of Epistar.

Beginning operation on 1 October, the spin-off’s task is to commit itself to professional services and better resource allocation. With the aim of boosting the parent company’s revenue, profitability and return on equity, Jou will exploit Epistar Group’s core technologies to concentrate on the development of foundry business including 4-inch and 6-inch epitaxial wafers for vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-on-Si) power electronics.

Epistar has been led by two presidents - for its first 10 years by Dr Biing-Jye Lee (now chairman) and for the last 10 years by Dr Ming-Jiunn Jou – during which time the firm has undergone several mergers in the LED industry and become the world’s largest manufacturer of LED epiwafers and chips.

Effective 16 July, for ‘Epistar 2.0’, Jou will be succeed as president of Epistar by vice president Chin-Yung (Patrick) Fan, who has been working at the firm for 20 years including being in charge of aluminium gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP) and indium gallium nitride (InGaN) production, quality management, and marketing. Epistar says that, with his extensive leadership and industry experience, he will establish and execute a vision for the firm going forward, extending to different businesses based on Epistar Group’s core technologies (evolving from ‘Actualize LED Potential’ to ‘Actualize III-V Semiconductor Potential’).

Tags: EpistarLEDs VCSELs GaN-on-Si

Visit: www.epistar.com.tw