Soitec SA

Soitec announced the success of its offering of bonds settled in cash and/or convertible into new shares and/or exchangeable for existing shares, known as ORNANEs, due September 2033 for a nominal amount of €500 million. The bonds carry a fixed coupon of 0.5% per annum, were issued at 100% of their Principal Amount on September 25, 2026, and will be redeemed at par on September 25, 2033, with the conversion and exchange price set at €206.46, a 55% premium above the reference share price of €133.20. Soitec said it will use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include refinancing existing indebtedness and investments to support organic growth, and Chief Financial Officer Albin Jacquemont tied the placement to investor confidence in the company's Photonics-SOI technologies for next-generation AI infrastructure. Concurrently, certain members of the bank syndicate acting as joint bookrunners organized a placement of existing Soitec shares at €133.20 through an accelerated bookbuilding to facilitate hedging for certain bond subscribers, from which Soitec will receive no proceeds. The company agreed to a lock-up ending 90 calendar days after the Issue Date, and potential dilution from the offering would represent up to 6.3% of the outstanding share capital should Soitec decide to deliver only new shares upon exercise of the conversion and exchange right.

Soitec held its Annual General Meeting today under the chairmanship of Frédéric Lissalde, with a quorum of 51% of shareholders present, represented, or voting by correspondence. All resolutions proposed by the Board of Directors were adopted with more than 98% of the votes. Key approvals included the company and consolidated financial statements for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, the appointment of Laurent Rémont and Didier Fontaine as directors for three-year terms, and the renewal of Christophe Gégout and Delphine Segura Vaylet as directors for three-year terms. Shareholders also approved the compensation elements for corporate officers paid or awarded for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, the compensation policies for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, various financial authorizations and delegations to the Board, and a bylaw amendment to allow shareholder meeting notices by any means.

European stock markets closed with their biggest decline in more than two weeks on Thursday, with the STOXX 600 index falling 1.18% to close at 639.27 points, pressured by disappointing earnings, hawkish remarks from the European Central Bank, and a surge in crude oil prices. France's CAC-40 dropped 1.64% to close at 8,299.09 points, Germany's DAX fell 1.56% to 24,763.12 points, and London's FTSE 100 declined 0.73% to 10,639.17 points. Although the ECB held interest rates steady, comments from President Christine Lagarde led investors to see a chance of a rate hike in September. Meanwhile, Brent crude futures surged to 100 US dollars per barrel for the first time since May after Houthi forces attacked a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea, pushing energy stocks up 1.54%. However, food and beverage stocks tumbled 4.1%, with Nestlé plunging nearly 8%, its biggest drop since 1989, after announcing the sale of some of its water and premium beverage businesses to Platinum Equity. Technology stocks fell 2.9%, led by STMicroelectronics which slumped 17.7% after forecasting third-quarter revenue below expectations, and BE Semiconductor which dropped 7.3% after reporting second-quarter results. In contrast, Soitec surged nearly 22% after revenue beat estimates. TotalEnergies rose 2.5% on its strongest quarterly results in nearly three years, and easyJet gained 2.7% despite a 70% drop in third-quarter profit.

European stock markets rebounded after four trading days, with the STOXX Europe 600 index closing 0.78% higher at 640.87. Amid heightened tensions from the exchange of attacks between the US and Iran, tech and resource stocks led the market, with the STOXX Europe 600 Technology index up 2.76% and the Resource index up 3.28%. Reports that China may allow limited purchases of Nvidia's AI chip H200 fueled expectations of expanding AI infrastructure demand, lifting semiconductor-related stocks: Germany's Siltronic surged 13.4%, France's Soitec rose 5.9%, and the Netherlands' ASML Holding gained 4.8%. Meanwhile, the healthcare index fell 0.90%, and UK pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca dropped 6.2% after disappointing late-stage trial results for a co-developed neurological disease treatment. In London, the FTSE 100 edged lower for a second day, but the mid-cap FTSE 250 index rebounded after four days, rising 0.97%, while the FTSE 350 Precious Metals index gained 4.06% and the Mining index climbed 4.09% on higher gold and other commodity prices. In eurozone bond markets, yields fell as oil prices stabilized, with the German 10-year yield down 2.5 basis points to 3.061%.

Soitec and ZenSemi have announced a strategic collaboration to enable high-volume production of 300mm BCD-on-SOI technologies for next-generation power electronics. Soitec will supply its advanced 300mm Power-SOI substrates to support ZenSemi’s development and capacity ramp-up of a new BCD-on-SOI process, targeting applications such as AI datacenters, electric vehicles, humanoid robots, and industrial systems. The partnership aims to provide fabless companies and integrated device manufacturers with a high-performance manufacturing platform, leveraging Soitec’s engineered substrate expertise and ZenSemi’s specialty foundry capabilities. ZenSemi reported successful first-silicon validation with a lead customer, achieving a roughly 30% die size reduction for an 18-channel analog front-end device compared to traditional bulk BCD processes. The companies plan to rapidly scale 300mm SOI-BCD manufacturing capacity to serve both domestic Chinese design houses and global clients.