KUALA LUMPUR: UWC Bhd's unit, UWC Industrial Sdn Bhd, has signed a sales and purchase agreement with Penang Development Corp (PDC) to acquire a 4.9ha land at Batu Kawan Industrial Park, Penang, for RM28.96 million.
In a statement today, the integrated engineering supporting services provider said the acquisition would be funded via internally generated funds and is expected to be completed by 2021.
UWC has planned to increase its production capacity in tandem with the increase in demand for testers to test functionalities of new chips.
This is due to the anticipated growth of the semiconductor industry driven by demand for processor chips in smart devices, industry 4.0, cloud storage, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles and 5G industry,
It added this bodes well with UWC's growing order book in the semiconductor and life science business segments.
With this new expansion, UWC would double production capacity and create an opportunity for job creations for Malaysia and intends to hire 500 skilled engineers, welders, technicians and many more to ensure smooth operations at this new factory.
UWC executive director and group chief executive officer Datuk Ng Chai Eng said the company targets to spend about RM200 million over three years, complementing its long term plans to be a vertically integrated player.
"UWC has been continuously expanding its facilities and capacities such as building new factories and purchasing new machines to cater for the growth of the semiconductor industry, which has remained robust over the years.
"This new plant is in line with UWC's future direction as it is expected to double the production capacity, catering to higher orders from existing and new customers," he said.
He added the expansion was in tandem with the group's venture into the higher end of the value chain, such as frontend semiconductors, 5G testers and more recently, electric vehicle testers.