Circuit Foil Luxembourg, a major player in the high-end copper foil market, is set to be acquired by Chinese industrial group Defu Technology in a deal worth €174 million.
“Based on a memorandum of understanding signed at the end of June, a share purchase contract was signed on July 29 between the shareholders of Circuit Foil Luxembourg and the company Defu Technology,” a spokesperson for Circuit Foil Luxembourg told Virgule.
The deal is expected to close by mid-October, subject to regulatory approvals and internal restructuring.
Defu will also create a wholly owned Luxembourg-based subsidiary, tentatively named “Defu Luxembourg”, to complete the acquisition.
Circuit Foil has faced headwinds in recent years, including surging energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, growing Asian competition, and falling financial performance.
In mid-2023, the company began scaling back, opting not to renew fixed-term contracts.
That was followed by a social plan in October impacting around 30 employees, aimed at “safeguarding the competitiveness” of local operations. A job retention deal was signed in November.
Asked whether the acquisition would affect operations in Luxembourg, the company said it would “cooperate closely to ensure the smooth running of all business operations” during the transition period.
Founded in the US in 1959 and based in Luxembourg since 1960, Circuit Foil produces high-value electrolytic copper foils used in electric vehicle batteries, smartphones, satellites, and semiconductors.
The company supplies customers in over 50 countries and employs more than 300 people in Luxembourg.
(This article was originally published by Virgule. Machine translated by AI, with editing and adaptation by Kabir Agarwal)