Micron plans $500 million in financing for GlobalWafers' Sherman wafer plant

Micron Technology plans to provide $500 million in strategic financing for GlobalWafers' 300-millimeter raw silicon wafer facility in Sherman, in Grayson County, according to a Micron investor news release. The company pairs the proposed financing with a planned 10-year supply agreement that would give it access to substantial raw wafer capacity for its long-term manufacturing plans.

The money has not changed hands. Micron says the proposed transaction remains subject to definitive agreements, approvals and closing conditions.

The release describes the Sherman financing as one part of a plan to spend up to $3 billion strengthening the semiconductor supply-chain ecosystem in the United States. For the Sherman piece specifically, Micron says the goal is to advance GlobalWafers America's ability to develop and manufacture 300-millimeter raw silicon wafers domestically.

Federal support for the site is already on record. The National Institute of Standards and Technology lists a CHIPS award of up to $406 million for GlobalWafers America and MEMC, including $380 million in direct funding for Sherman, with the money disbursed as the company meets milestones rather than paid as an upfront lump sum. NIST describes the project as construction of a 300-millimeter silicon wafer manufacturing facility and estimates about 1,200 construction jobs and 750 manufacturing jobs in Sherman.

The agency's project page also explains why wafer production draws this level of federal interest. About 90 percent of silicon wafers are sourced from East Asia, according to NIST, and GlobalWafers is one of five companies that control most of the global supply.

State and county commitments came earlier. In 2022, the Texas governor's office announced a $15 million Texas Enterprise Fund grant for GlobiTech, a GlobalWafers subsidiary, toward an additional Sherman facility the state said was expected to create 1,500 jobs and generate billions of dollars in capital investment. A Grayson County Commissioners Court resolution states that Sherman created Industrial Reinvestment Zone No. 12 and authorized a Chapter 380 agreement providing 75 percent incentive rebates for 20 years after the tax-abatement period, and that the county approved a parallel Chapter 381 incentive for Phase II-A improvements tied to $750 million in improvements, equipment and personal property.

Workforce training efforts also reach beyond Sherman itself. NIST lists a GlobalWafers partnership with Sherman High School, Denison High School and Grayson College to establish electronics labs aimed at technician certifications.

Gainesville's own incentive ledger, as posted on the city's official incentives page, lists five active tax abatements and 11 active economic-development agreements involving the city and the Gainesville Economic Development Corporation, which the page credits with helping create or retain 471 jobs.