CALIFORNIA, USA: In order to reduce the cost and come into terms with the recession, Freescale Semiconductor plans to sell two older chip factories, one each in France and Japan. The two facilities reportedly produce chips on 6-inch wafers.

Citing a company statement, IDG news service reported on Sunday that Freescale had tapped the semiconductor sales division of Colliers International, ATREG, seeking a deal that includes a chip supply agreement, the kind of deal contract chip makers often look for when buying older factories.

The sale would reduce the total number of chip fabrication plants run by Freescale to four, according to information on its Web site.

Chip makers often look for ways to cut costs during economic downturns. While announcing its third quarter results for the current fiscal, Freescale had announced that it recorded $91 million of reorganization costs, inclusive of approximately $31 million in severance charges associated with additional actions undertaken by the company in the third quarter.

As previously reported in prior quarters, the company had been implementing a series of restructuring actions to streamline its cost structure, reduce its breakeven and re-direct some research and development investments into higher growth markets. Total severance and related cash requirements associated with these actions, inclusive of all actions to date, totaled approximately $300 million with expected corresponding annualized savings of approximately $800 million, a company statement said.