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Cree Rebrands Division That Includes Fayetteville as Wolfspeed

2 min read

Semiconductor manufacturer Cree Inc. has rebranded its power and radio frequency division, which includes the former Arkansas Power Electronics International of Fayetteville, as Wolfspeed, the publicly traded company announced Wednesday.

Cree (Nasdaq: CREE) bought APEI in July for an undisclosed sum. It plans to grow the division into a stand-alone company, according to a news release. 

“Today, Wolfspeed is providing our customers and our team with a first look at our new company’s name, brand identity and purpose in advance of our IPO, which we plan to execute during fiscal year 2016,” said new Wolfspeed CEO Frank Plastina in the release. “We’re building something new on the firm foundation that is Cree and we want to share our vision, plans and enthusiasm with all of our stakeholders as we move seamlessly through the transition.”

APEI was based out of the Arkansas Research & Technology Park, part of the University of Arkansas, and was a UA-affiliated startup and an early Innovate Arkansas client firm.

Cree, based in Durham, North Carolina, continued to operate out of the park as Cree Fayetteville. Its Fayetteville operations will now take on the Wolfspeed brand. The name is meant to reflect Cree’s origins at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. That school’s athletic teams are known as the Wolfpack. 

On Tuesday, Cree announced that it had received $4.1 million from the U.S. Air Force to further develop a high-performance power electronic module for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

APEI first received the government contract to make the F-35 power modules in April 2014.

Also on Wednesday, Cree announced it had entered into a licensing agreement with LED chip manufacturer Epistar.

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