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The company, fronted by ex-Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd, plans to use the one million square foot site for manufacturing in the renewable energy sector.
That will build on existing work to turn the River Tyne into a world-leading hub for green industries, which will not suffer as a result of the deal.
The Shepherds, based on Walker Riverside in Newcastle’s East End, have spent an undisclosed amount on the former Hyundai factory, in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland.
Built in the late 1990s at a cost of around £200m, it has never opened due to the collapse of the global microchip market, which has been a source of much controversy north of the border.
Now, the Shepherds hope to finally bring the site to life after buying it from Freescale, a subsidiary of telecommunications firm Motorola.
The family is already working to transform former Tyneside shipyards into a “centre for excellence” in the wind and wave energy sector.
The US turbine manufacturer Clipper Windpower is set to move into a new factory being built on the site of the former Neptune yard in the coming weeks and the Shepherds say they are confident of securing further deals in the near future.
Last night, Mr Shepherd told The Journal: “We are delighted to be able to announce the purchase of this site in Fife, which is part of our wider strategy to become world leaders in the renewable energy and sub sea sector.
“We are already well under way with our plans to bring thousands of jobs to the Tyne and that will continue.
“In no way will this deal detract from what we are doing on the North Bank of the Tyne.
“But what it does to is enable us to expand in the Scottish market and create hundreds of jobs up there as well.”
The building of wind turbines in the North East is likely to support the Dogger Bank offshore wind site, in the North Sea.
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