MARCY, N.Y. — Silicon-carbide technology company Wolfspeed, Inc., (NYSE: WOLF) recently announced it has secured
$1.25 billion in financing, with an accordion feature for up to an additional $750 million, from an investment group led by Apollo (NYSE: APO).

The financing supports Wolfspeed’s efforts to ramp up production and expand as it works toward a $6.4 billion global capacity expansion plan. The company expects its efforts will yield an accelerated adoption of silicon carbide across an array of end markets and spur job creation in the U.S. semiconductor manufacturing segment.

“The group’s commitment to Wolfspeed further validates the importance of silicon carbide to the global energy transition,” Wolfspeed President/CEO Gregg Lowe said in a release. “This important step in our financing provides significant capital to scale up near-term operations at our Mohawk Valley Fab and construction of our Siler City materials facility to help us capture the growing silicon-carbide market opportunity. The financing positions Wolfspeed to continue to lead the growth of the industry and focus on the execution of our vertically integrated strategy to meet growing demand.”

Wolfspeed employs more than 350 people at its Mohawk Valley Fab, a 500,000-square-foot 200 mm silicon-carbide fabrication facility in Marcy, a figure ahead of the 270 the company originally projected it would employ by early 2023.

Work to build out Marcy’s 125,000-square-foot cleanroom began earlier this year, an estimated $2 billion project that will bring production capabilities to full capacity by 2027. Once complete, the Mohawk Valley Fab will be able to produce about $2 billion worth of product annually.

Wolfspeed announced in the fall of 2022 it will build a new materials-manufacturing facility in Chatham County, North Carolina. The $1.3 billion project will provide a 10-fold increase in the company’s silicon-carbide production capacity.

The new financing comes in the form of 9.875 percent notes that mature in 2030, with an option to prepay based on terms of the notes. The investment is led by funds managed by Apollo’s $450 billion credit business.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) and Morgan Stanley & Co., LLC, served as financial advisors to Wolfspeed while Latham & Watkins LLP and Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan, L.L.P. served as legal counsel.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP served as legal counsel to the Apollo funds and noteholder group. Apollo Capital Solutions provided capital markets and structuring advisory services for the transaction.

Headquartered in North Carolina, Wolfspeed produces silicon-carbide wafers for components used in devices such as electric vehicles, fast chargers, 5G applications, and the renewable energy, aerospace, and defense industries.