Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. announced that it has formed an agreement to acquire the pellicle business of Asahi Kasei Corporation, said the company.
According to Mitsui Chemical’s Long-Term Business plan VISION 2030, it is aiming with creating and growing a “unique” ICT Solutions business to grow products that will let it create and grow operations here into our third pillar of earnings under the business portfolio transformation.
This will see the pellicle business in particular positioned as a key product lineup on the ICT materials front, as well as a business to focus on further going forward. Hopes then are to offer highly competitive new products and solutions that contribute to innovation in the semiconductor production process, allowing Mitsui Chemicals to serve as the number one manufacturer of cutting-edge pellicles.
Mitsui Chemicals has been able to secure a significant presence in the pellicle market since first launching pellicle sales in 1984. The company has become the leader in cutting-edge products for LSI pellicles, and stands at the forefront in achieving commercialization of EUV pellicles – these being used in EUV lithography, an advanced technology in the semiconductor industry.
Still, with the LSI pellicle market trending toward higher resolutions and more advanced quality assurance standards, it will be essential to develop technologies here further and keep up investments.
Mitsui Chemicals has therefore discussed the future of pellicle operations on a number of occasions with Asahi Kasei, which has both advanced technologies and a sturdy business foundation in the pellicle arena.
Resulting from these discussions is the conclusion that the best way to strengthen business here would be to combine the pellicle businesses of Mitsui Chemicals and Asahi Kasei, moving to operate them.
Asahi Kasei’s own pellicle business was first commercialized in 1986. Since then, this business has
propped up the FPD pellicle 2 market as its number one player. It has also forged ahead with manufacturing process improvements, production capacity increases and more for LSI pellicles, facilitating an increasing market share in recent years in the cutting-edge market posed by ArF immersion lithography.
By acquiring this business, Mitsui Chemicals aims to combine its own pellicle business in the cutting- edge realm with Asahi Kasei’s wide-ranging pellicle business portfolio, making for a comprehensive pellicle manufacturer that can strengthen our position as number one on the global stage.