By Kim Yoo-chul
Leading German chemical company Merck has acquired U.S.-based Ormet Circuits to boost its position as a materials supplier for the chip industry.
A Merck Korea spokeswoman declined to give details of the deal, saying, “The parties have agreed not to publicize the purchase price.”
According to Merck, Ormet is an early stage, venture-capital-backed business in San Diego, Calif. It was owned by various institutional and private investors, of which PEI Funds, a US-based investment company, was the largest shareholder.
Merck said it already held a minority stake in Ormet and has now bought all remaining shares.
“Merck's integrated-circuit materials business unit, which is part of its Performance Materials business sector, already has a strong position as a semiconductor materials supplier,” the company said. “Merck expects Ormet's technology to now allow the company to further diversify its product portfolio.”
Rico Wiedenbruch, head of the company’s integrated-circuit materials business unit, said: “Ormet has developed conductive pastes based on a unique environmentally friendly technology which can solve technical challenges in semiconductor packaging. This is particularly interesting due to the growing demand for highly integrated devices such as smartphones.”
Merck said semiconductor packaging is the final stage of semiconductor device fabrication, in which the device is assembled and encased.
By combining various competencies, Merck will be in an even stronger position to meet demand for materials with increasingly complex functions, the company said.