Doosan Group signed a deal to acquire SK Siltron, a semiconductor wafer maker, from SK Group. With this, Doosan is expected to further strengthen its competitiveness in the semiconductor institutional sector, following its core businesses in energy and machinery.
Doosan Group's holding company, Doosan, disclosed on the 31st that it signed a stock purchase agreement to acquire 70.6% equity in SK Siltron from SK Group. The equity to be acquired is the 70.6% stake in SK Siltron held by SK, and the sale price is 2.3 trillion won. However, the 29.4% stake held by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won was excluded from this acquisition.
SK Siltron is the only company in Korea that produces semiconductor wafers. Based on 12-inch wafers, it holds the third-highest market share globally. SK Siltron's corporate value was estimated at over 5 trillion won last year, and many analysts say its value likely rose further this year as the artificial intelligence (AI) market expanded and the semiconductor industry enjoyed a boom.
Doosan has expanded investment in the semiconductor business in recent years. In 2022, it acquired Tesna (now DOOSAN TESNA), Korea's No. 1 corporations in back-end semiconductor testing. With this SK Siltron acquisition, Doosan is expected to rise as a core equipment and materials corporations that handles both front-end and back-end semiconductor businesses.
Going forward, Doosan's semiconductor business is expected to take a "three-pronged" structure centered on DOOSAN TESNA, Doosan's Electronics BG (electronics business) division, and SK Siltron. DOOSAN TESNA handles non-memory semiconductor testing; Doosan's Electronics BG division produces copper-clad laminates (CCL) for semiconductor substrates; and SK Siltron supplies customized wafers.
Since the 2000s, Doosan has sold its alcoholic beverage institutional sector including OB Beer, as well as food service businesses such as Coca-Cola and Burger King, and moved to reshape its portfolio around machinery and heavy industry. In 2007, it acquired Bobcat (now Doosan Bobcat), a U.S. construction equipment corporations.
In the 2010s, despite undergoing harsh restructuring due to the global downturn, it continued to reorganize its business structure. Doosan's main businesses now consist of three pillars: machinery centered on Doosan Bobcat and Doosan Robotics; energy led by Doosan Enerbility and Doosan Fuel Cell; and semiconductors and advanced materials with DOOSAN TESNA as the mainstay.
Doosan projected that Siltron's wafer business can grow at an average annual rate in the 7% range going forward. Based on this, it set Siltron's sales target at about 3 trillion won in 2031.
A Doosan official said, "With this acquisition agreement, Doosan has secured future growth engines and a sustainable revenue base." The official added, "Siltron will not be listed," and "we will work harder to enhance Doosan's shareholder value based on a stable business portfolio."
In business circles, there is an assessment that SK Group, through the sale of Siltron, also accelerated the rebalancing it has pursued in recent years and secured resources to focus on other future growth engines such as AI.
A business community official said, "Inside SK, there were many who opposed selling Siltron, an advanced materials corporations, as the company is looking to grow semiconductors on the back of AI growth," adding, "It appears the group ultimately decided to sell to maintain trust with Doosan, selected as the preferred bidder at the end of last year, and to continue the group's rebalancing stance."