Resonac explores deal structures for possible JSR takeover
Resonac Holdings is studying deal structures for a possible acquisition of government-owned chip linchpin JSR, a key step in the chemicals maker's ambition to corner the Japanese artificial intelligence semiconductor materials market.
Now controlled by state-backed Japan Investment Corp. (JIC) following a $6 billion buyout, JSR is the world's largest maker of photoresists — a light-sensitive material crucial for mapping circuit patterns onto silicon through a process called lithography.
"We've become overwhelmingly strong in many chip chemicals, but we don't own one for lithography,' Resonac Holdings Chief Executive Officer Hidehito Takahashi said in an interview. "We need that to be able to say we are a Japan-born specialty chemicals company with a substantial global market presence.'
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