Himax to Make Strategic Investment in FOCI Private Placement Financing; Companies to Unite FOCI's World Leading CPO Technology with Himax State-of-the-Art Nano-Scale WLO at the Innovative Forefront of MCM Integration

Core Viewpoint - FOCI Fiber Optic Communications, Inc. has announced a private placement financing with Himax Technologies, Inc., where Himax will acquire a 5.3% equity stake in FOCI through the purchase of 5,000,000 shares at NT$104.4 per share, raising approximately NT$522 million (US$16 million) [1][2][6]. Group 1: Company Overview - FOCI is a leading global manufacturer of silicon photonics connectors, focusing on optical communication technology and recently developing silicon photonics packaging technology [2][9]. - The company has a strong history, established in 1995, and is recognized for its innovations in fiber optic interconnect and related technologies [9][10]. Group 2: Strategic Partnership - Himax Technologies will participate as a strategic investor, enhancing FOCI's capabilities in Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) technology, which integrates optical components for improved performance in high-speed applications [1][6][8]. - The collaboration aims to leverage Himax's Wafer Level Optics (WLO) technology with FOCI's CPO solutions to meet the growing demands in sectors such as High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) [2][4][5]. Group 3: Technological Advancements - CPO technology encapsulates silicon photonic chips and optical connectors in multi-chip modules, improving bandwidth, data transfer rates, and reducing latency and energy consumption [3][4]. - FOCI's ReLFAConTM is highlighted as an advanced CPO solution, integrating fiber optic array connectors for optimal signal transmission [3][4]. - Himax's WLO technology enhances the optical characteristics of FOCI's products, ensuring high-precision and low-loss transmission [4][5]. Group 4: Market Potential - The partnership is positioned to address the increasing demand for high-speed transmission technologies, particularly in computing and communications sectors [6][8]. - Both companies aim to strengthen their market positions by combining their respective technologies to cater to the explosive demand for high-speed optical communication [7][8].