Japan-based photoresist leader JSR announced that the Take Over Bid (TOB) for its shares, led by the Japanese government and the state-backed Japan Investment Corp (JIC), had been completed. JSR will lead in consolidating the semiconductor material industry in Japan and ramping up investments in advanced semiconductor materials.
On April 17, Nikkei and Asahi Shimbun reported that JIC's offer to buy JSR's shares surpassed two-thirds of its acquisition goal. This meets the requirement for JSR to be delisted, expected to happen by summer 2024.
From March 19 to April 16, JIC bought more than 84% of JSR's shares. The remaining shares will soon be acquired, making JSR a fully-owned subsidiary of JIC.
According to Nomura Securities, JSR is the world's largest photoresist manufacturer, with a 27% market share. Tokyo Ohka Kogyo is a close competitor. Japan-based Shin-Etsu Chemical, Sumitomo Chemical, and Fujifilm are also key players in the photoresist market, together holding about 90% of the global market.
The acquisition is expected to help JSR improve its technology and scale up as the advanced semiconductor manufacturing process requires advanced materials. JSR is collaborating with the Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (Imec) through Inpria, a US-based photoresist supplier JSR acquired in 2021. JSR is also jointly developing EUV photoresist with SK Hynix.
