US semiconductor company MPS will expand its offices in Catalonia, creating 150 highly qualified jobs

• Monolithic Power Systems, an S&P 500 company, has expanded its semiconductor design center in Barcelona by 1,200m2. In addition, it will construct a new 3,000m2 building in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat with a laboratory for testing
• MPS has received the support from the Catalan Government’s ACCIÓ-Catalonia Trade & Investment agency for this expansion, which makes its Catalan location the company's largest R&D center in Europe
• Ministers Roger Torrent and Natàlia Mas met with the CEO of the global company, which produces semiconductors for sectors such as electric vehicles, renewable energies, datacenters, and telecommunications equipment
• For the Catalan Government, investment projects in the field of semiconductors, which have a lot of international competition, are highly strategic to guarantee technological sovereignty and the reindustrialization of Europe and Catalonia

American company Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (MPS) will create 150 highly qualified jobs in the next five years with the expansion of its offices in Catalonia, making it the company’s largest R&D center in Europe. This expansion was announced by MPS CEO, Michael Hsing, accompanied by the Minister of Business and Labour, Roger Torrent, and the Minister of Economy and Finance, Natàlia Mas, after a working meeting was held Thursday morning with the managers of the company.

This expansion project — which has the support of the ACCIÓ-Catalonia Trade & Investment and a grant of 256,000 euros under the High Impact line — first plans to expand the semiconductor design center in Barcelona, ​​which has gone from occupying an area of ​​800m2 to the current 2,000m2. This office will welcome 50 new engineers, who will join the 40 existing employees currently working at the Catalan headquarters.

Second, MPS will build a new 3,000m2 building in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, which is expected to be operational in 2024. It will have a laboratory to test the semiconductors, where they will later be used in applications such as telecom infrastructures, cloud computing, automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics. 100 new engineers will work in this new facility; when the expansion is completed, the company will have around 200 employees working in Spain.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, the CEO of Monolithic Power Systems, Michael Hsing, explained that “Catalonia has a wonderful combination of excellent universities and high quality of life that attracts worldwide talent. MPS wants to offer exceptional job opportunities within the semiconductor industry to local and worldwide talent. We look forward to a great future of growth in the Catalonia region.”

For his part, the Minister of Business and Labour, Roger Torrent, has emphasized that "semiconductors are the most valued element in practically all sectors and its demand will grow exponentially in the coming years. Catalonia is ready to be a design and manufacturing hub that contributes to improving European technological sovereignty".

In this sense, he added, "the entire value chain of semiconductors is a priority for the Government due to its strategic value when it comes to covering the vast majority of industries in Catalonia".

For her part, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Natàlia Mas, has highlighted that this project "contributes to placing Catalonia on the European map of semiconductors research, design and production".

In this regard, the Minister referred to the meeting that, together with the President of Catalonia, Pere Aragonès, she held last week with the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton: "Breton identified Catalonia as a key territory within the EU strategy of reindustrialization and recovery of the technological sovereignty".

Headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, USA and listed on the NASDAQ: MPWR, MPS established itself in Barcelona in 2018. It has more than 3,000 employees on an international scale.

Public Support for Productive Investment

Specifically, the company has received the support of the Catalonia Trade & Investment agency, ACCIÓ's foreign investment attraction area. This unit works from Barcelona and ACCIÓ's network of 40 Foreign Trade and Investment offices around the world to capture new foreign investment projects in Catalonia, while at the same time providing comprehensive advice to foreign companies to facilitate the process of investment.