Cardiff, April 27, 2026, 17:03 (BST)
- IQE said MACOM and existing investors will back an £81 million fundraising.
- The deal ends IQE’s strategic review and keeps the Cardiff-based chip-wafer supplier independent.
- The funding is conditional on shareholder approval and national security clearances.
IQE plc said on Monday that MACOM Technology Solutions Inc. would invest £45 million as part of a wider £81 million fundraising, ending a long strategic review that had included talks with potential buyers for all or parts of the British semiconductor-wafer supplier.
The move matters now because it gives IQE a route to cut debt and fund investment after a period of weak trading, takeover speculation and pressure on its balance sheet. IQE said proceeds would be used to repay its $35 million, or £27 million, revolving credit facility with HSBC, redeem existing convertible loan notes and support work in indium phosphide and gallium nitride, materials used in high-speed optical and radio-frequency chips.
MACOM, a U.S. semiconductor maker and existing IQE customer, will subscribe for £30 million of new shares and take £15 million of secured zero-coupon convertible loan notes. The shares will be issued at 19.8 pence each, a 58.4% discount to IQE’s 47.6 pence closing mid-market price on April 24, the company said.
IQE shares closed at 49.40 pence in London on Monday, up 3.8%, before the late-afternoon announcement. The company’s market value was shown at about £484 million.
The broader fundraising includes about £22.8 million from existing noteholders reinvesting redemption proceeds, an £11 million placing through an accelerated bookbuild and a retail offer of up to £2 million. IQE said both the placing and retail offer were expected to be open only to existing shareholders.
“This proposed transaction is transformational for IQE,” Chief Executive Jutta Meier said in the company’s statement, adding that the funding would give IQE “balance sheet strength” while it keeps its global footprint. London South East
MACOM said separately that it planned to enter long-term supply agreements with IQE for epitaxial services across multiple technologies. Epitaxy is the process of growing ultra-thin crystal layers on wafers, a key step in making compound semiconductors used in communications, defence, data-centre and smartphone applications.
“IQE is an important supplier to MACOM,” MACOM President and Chief Executive Stephen Daly said. He said the transaction would strengthen MACOM’s supply-chain resilience and help position IQE to improve its balance sheet and financial performance. GlobeNewswire
The deal changes IQE’s governance as well. MACOM will be entitled to nominate two non-executive directors to IQE’s board after completion, while IQE said Lombard Odier would lose the right to appoint a second non-executive director following redemption of its existing loan notes.
IQE said it had discussed possible transactions with several bidders during the review but had now ended talks with third parties for the whole group. The company said it was no longer in an offer period under the UK Takeover Code.
The commercial backdrop has improved, at least in management’s view. IQE said first-quarter trading was on budget, with demand in photonics products tied to AI computing and data-centre deployments, as well as VCSEL and wireless products used in smartphones. It expects 2026 revenue to grow by more than 20% year on year.
But completion is not assured. The fundraising needs shareholder approval at a May 15 general meeting and regulatory clearance under the UK National Security and Investment Act and Italian foreign-direct-investment rules. IQE warned that if shareholders do not approve the resolutions, the fundraising cannot complete and the company would need emergency funding to meet short-term liquidity needs.
