IBM, Brazil's richest man to be partners in chip factory

Brazilian authorities announced Monday the construction of a semiconductor factory costing 1 billion reais ($500 million) that will have among its partners IBM and Eike Batista, Brazil's richest man.

SIX Semiconductores will be the second semiconductor factory in Brazil and the most modern in Latin America, Minas Gerais state Gov. Antonio Anastasia said at the ceremony to launch the project.

Also participating in the event was federal Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Minister Fernando Pimentel.

Both the federal and state governments will help to finance the initiative.

The factory will be built in Ribeirao das Neves, a suburb of Belo Horizonte, the state capital.

The two biggest partners will be the Batista-controlled SIX Solucoes Inteligentes and BNDES development bank, the financial arm of the Brazilian government.

Each will have a 33 percent interest in the project, and the SIX Semiconductores plant will create 300 direct jobs when it is up and running.

The other partners in the project will be IBM, the Minas Gerais State Development Bank and the Matec Investimentos and Tecnologia Infinita WS-Intecs groups.

The only chip factory in Brazil is a state-owned plant recently launched in the state or Rio Grande do Sul that has yet to begin production.

Construction on the new factory will begin this year and it is slated to begin operating in 2014.