SKC will absorb and merge SK Enpulse, an investment company in the semiconductor materials business, as part of a business portfolio rebalancing.
SKC said on the 15th that it held a board meeting on the 14th and reviewed and approved the merger agenda for SK Enpulse, which includes these details. SKC plans to complete the merger within the year after the remaining procedures.
With this merger, SKC will secure about 380 billion won in funds, including SK Enpulse's cash on hand and proceeds from business divestitures.
The funds will be invested in high value-added semiconductor back-end packaging and advanced materials, including the commercialization of glass substrates. They will also be used to improve financial soundness, including reducing borrowing fund.
Since 2023, SKC has pursued semiconductor materials business rebalancing as part of a mid- to long-term portfolio change strategy. Following the sequential sale of SK Enpulse's fine ceramics, wet chemicals and cleaning business, CMP pad business, and blank mask business institutional sector, the back-end equipment business institutional sector was spun off into a new corporation, iSEMI, and transferred to ISC.
SKC's semiconductor materials business will be reorganized around two pillars: ISC's test sockets and equipment, and the glass substrate business of Absolics, which is pursuing commercialization in Georgia, U.S. SKC plans to strengthen its competitiveness centered on back-end processes with high added value and expand its presence in advanced semiconductor materials.
An SKC official said, "The sale of SK Enpulse's noncore businesses and the merger are both a catalyst to complete the portfolio transition toward a high value-added back-end focus, which has the characteristics of high semiconductor added value, and a measure to strengthen financial soundness," adding, "We will use the secured funds to create opportunities for a new leap in the back-end field."