SKC(011790) is accelerating commercialization of products to secure an early lead in the next-generation packaging market by participating in a paid-in capital increase of Absolics, its investment company in the semiconductor glass substrate business.
SKC said on the 4th that its board resolved to participate in a shareholder-allotted paid-in capital increase promoted by Absolics and to contribute about 281 billion won in cash. SKC plans to acquire 192,416 new shares allocated according to its equity holding ratio (70.05%). The scheduled acquisition date is Nov. 24 this year.
This participation is a follow-up to SKC's paid-in capital increase of 1.1671 trillion won carried out in the first half of the year. SKC had said it would invest about 590 billion won from the funds secured through the increase into the glass substrate business over the next three years.
This contribution is the first disbursement under that decision. SKC plans to inject the remaining funds in stages in line with the progress of the business.
Absolics is speeding up a two-track strategy to commercialize "embedding" (built-in) and "non-embedding" (non-built-in) glass substrate products simultaneously.
The embedding product has completed preliminary evaluation of samples produced at the Georgia, U.S., plant and is currently undergoing reliability testing. The non-embedding product is participating in a second-half supplier selection project, and related procedures are underway with the goal of entering the proof-of-concept (PoC) stage within the year.
An SKC official said, "We will accelerate mass-production readiness by deploying planned funds in stages and will solidify our technological leadership in the next-generation semiconductor packaging market through close cooperation with strategic partners."