(Yicai) Sept. 10 — Shares of Changzhou Fusion New Material rose after the Chinese chemical additive supplier said it plans to buy some semiconductor raw material assets of South Korea’s SK Enpulse.
Fusion New Material [SHA: 688503] was trading up 1.2 percent at CNY59.85 (USD8.41) as of 2.20 p.m. in Shanghai today, after earlier gaining as much as 11.3 percent.
Fusion New Material will partner with an investment management company to purchase no less than 95 percent of the blank mask business assets of SKE for KRW68 billion (USD49 million) to better promote the development of its new semiconductor material business, the Changzhou-based firm announced yesterday, citing an agreement it signed with the seller.
Blank masks are key semi-finished materials used in the production of photomasks, which are critical raw materials in the semiconductor photolithography process, as they are essential consumables in wafer processing. Nearly all high-end Argon Fluoride blank masks that Chinese companies use are imported from Japan.
This acquisition is expected to expand Fusion New Material’s semiconductor materials business and help it broaden the customer resources of its existing semiconductor operations, the company pointed out.
SKE’s blank mask products have been validated by several semiconductor wafer fabrication plants and third-party independent clients from South Korea, the Chinese mainland, and Taiwan, and are now in mass production, Fusion New Material noted.
The blank mask business assets of SKE that Fusion New Material will acquire are still in the loss-making stage, with revenue totaling CNY4.3 million (USD603,475) and operating loss reaching CNY5.1 million last year, according to unaudited data provided by the buyer.
SKE is a subsidiary of Busan-listed South Korean company SKC, which is engaged in the production and processing of semiconductor materials and components.
Fusion New Material’s main source of revenue is the photovoltaic conductive paste business. Its semiconductor paste products have entered the supply chain of several leading semiconductor clients.
Editor: Futura Costaglione