- News
14 May 2019
Cree completes sale of Cree Lighting to Ideal Industries
Cree Inc of Durham, NC, USA has completed the sale (announced on 15 March) of its Lighting Products business unit (Cree Lighting, including the LED lighting fixtures, lamps and corporate lighting solutions business for commercial, industrial and consumer applications) to Ideal Industries Inc of Sycamore, IL, USA.
“This represents a pivotal chapter for Cree as we sharpen our focus to become a semiconductor powerhouse in silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) technologies,” says CEO Gregg Lowe.”Cree’s technologies are helping to power major transitions in our economy, whether it’s the automotive industry’s transition to electric vehicles or the telecommunications sector’s move to faster 5G networks,” he adds. “Our leadership in SiC and GaN positions us well to help customers improve performance and realize greater efficiencies.”
Cree will use the proceeds from the sale to accelerate the growth of Wolfspeed, its Power & RF business, and expand its semiconductor operations. The firm recently announced plans to invest up to $1bn in the expansion of its silicon carbide capacity to meet the growing demand for SiC and GaN-on-SiC technologies. The expansion includes the development of an automated 200mm silicon carbide fabrication facility and a materials mega factory at its US campus in Durham.
Cree investing $1bn to expand SiC materials production and power & RF fab capacity by up to 30-fold
Cree selling Lighting Products business to Ideal Industries
Cree LED Wolfspeed GaN RF SiC Power electronics