News Article
UP for grabs
Rohm and Haas Company divests its equity stake in UP Chemical Company
Rohm and Haas Company will divest its 40 percent equity interest in UP Chemical Company, a South Korean firm that specialises in DRAM and high-k gate dielectric precursor technology that is used to manufacture advanced semiconductors. Rohm and Haas signed an agreement to sell its equity interest to Woori Consortium.
“We identified UP Chemical as a good strategic partner during the very early stages of using ALD (atomic layer deposition) in semiconductor manufacturing,” said Dr. Yi Hyon Paik, vice president and business group director, Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials. “In 1998, Rohm and Haas invested $3.5 million in UP Chemical. We’ve been very pleased with the return on this investment.”
As part of the transaction, Rohm and Haas received approximately $112 million for its equity interest, reflecting a pre tax gain of approximately $84 million. The Company anticipates that the impact on second quarter 2008 earnings per diluted share of this gain will be $0.22. (This transaction will be reflected in Rohm and Haas’s second quarter results.) The Company expects that its full-year 2008 Affiliate Earnings will be reduced by $0.04 per diluted share as a result of this divestiture.
Following the divestiture of its equity interest in UP Chemical, Rohm and Haas will continue to participate in the ALD market. Last year, Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Harvard University for a novel class of amidinate compounds, the next generation of ALD materials used in advanced semiconductors.
The transaction closed on April 4, 2008.
