Cirtek takes in Telefunken of Germany as tech partner

Chips maker Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp. unit Cirtek Electronics Corp. (CEC) has partnered with Germany-based Telefunken Semiconductors Inc. to enhance its capability to produce quality products and services.

Cirtek Holdings senior director for sales Antonio Callueng said the agreement with Telefunken will enable the company to once again demonstrate its superior advantage in the production of copper wire bonding, an alternative solution to gold wire bonding.

Based on the agreement, Callueng said Telefunken will manufacture CEC’s AC-DC regulators intended for Low Power Off Line Switch Mode Power Supplies for battery charger adapters of portable electronics, auxiliary power supplies for industrial systems and standby power for TVs or monitors.

“Telefunken also manufactures DC-DC regulators used in set-top boxes and handhelds and high-performance LVDS products used for video distribution and infotainment,” Callueng said.

According to Callueng, the partnership with Telefunken proves the continuing resilience and competitiveness of Cirtek as one of the leading semiconductor companies in the Philippines.

“Although most of the market watchers have the impression of a global slowdown in the semiconductor industry toward the fourth quarter, Cirtek continuous to win new business and receive repeat orders as consumers continue demands for new technologies on Smart phone applications, Electronics in automotive applications as well as devices for energy savings and green energy that perfectly match Cirtek packaging capabilities,” he noted.

He added that the partnership is also a manifestation of Cirtek’s ability to provide technology solutions and competitive advantage to its customers.

The new business will entail another Cirtek expansion for new equipment and will facilitate additional employment opportunities to the local community in its 20,000 sqm manufacturing site at the Laguna Technopark in Biñan, Laguna.

Cirtek Holdings is offering 42,163,000 primary shares at a price of P7 per share to raise P295.14 million from Nov. 8 to 14, 2011 of which about P440 million of the net proceeds will be used for capital expenditures while the remaining P185 million will be for working capital purposes. The offer shares will be 26 percent of the firm’s post-IPO shares outstanding which will be listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange on Nov. 18, 2011.

Telefunken is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of energy efficient integrated circuits, for Power Management and high-performance Interface. It has significantly increased their capability to service the Semiconductor Foundry market with the recent acquisition of an advanced 130nm/8-inch, automotive-qualified fabrication plant in Roseville, California which augments an existing 350nm/6-inch automotive-qualified fabrication facility in Heilbronn, Germany. Together, these plants can manufacture a large array of versatile processes which address analog, mixed-signal and specialty technologies from deep submicron to High-Voltage CDMOS processes especially designed for power management applications.