SKC Co., a chemical company under South Korea's SK Group, said Friday it acquired a local semiconductor test equipment maker for 522.5 billion won (US$399 million) as it accelerates its push for a pivot to the manufacturing of semiconductor and battery components.
SKC took over a 35.8 percent stake, worth 347.5 billion won, in ISC Co. from a private equity firm that owns a major stake in the company, and will acquire the rest of the stake with new shares ISC will sell through a rights offering, SKC said.
The company will hold a 45 percent stake once the acquisition procedure is complete.
Established in 2001, ISC specializes in making test sockets for chip sets, a key component in the semiconductor post-processing. It has developed, and was the first to commercialize, a test socket made with silicon rubber, touting more than 80 percent share of the memory chip test socket market, according to SKC.
SKC has been bolstering its efforts to transform a major part of its business portfolio from chemicals-oriented to components sectors, with a focus on materials for secondary battery and semiconductors.
SKC has Absolics Inc., its Georgia-based chip packaging subsidiary in the U.S. that makes glass-based semiconductor substrates, seeking to become the first company to produce at scale this unique form of semiconductor packaging.
Source: Yonhap News Agency