Chinese metal company Vital Materials has been confirmed as the buyer of Samsung Corning Advanced Glass’s factory in Gumi, South Korea.
Vital announced that it bought the ceramic target business of Samsung on its homepage. The Gumi factory has been producing targets used its display and solar panels. The material is used to secure transparency and conductivity in panels.
Vital said the newly acquired business will provide highly complementary geographic, product and market mix.
Samsung Corning Advanced Glass’s ceramic target business is a leading ITO, IZO and IGZO supplier to the LCD and OLED display industry engaged in developing and manufacturing high-performance ceramic materials for emerging technologies, the Chinese firm said.
The ceramic target business will become part of Vital Thin Film Materials business unit, one of four business units within Vital active in research, development, production, sales and recycling of sputter targets and evaporative materials for physical vapour deposition (PVD), Vital said.
“The synergies created by the acquisition will form a stronger and more reliable partner for new and existing customers around the globe” Olivier Bracher, VP of Vital Thin Film Materials, said in statement.
Vital is based in Guangzhou, China and was founded in 1995. It is a material technology company specialized in R&D, production, distribution and recycling of rare strategic metals and high-end products. It employees 4,000 people worldwide and have an office in Pyeongtaek, South Korea.
In February, it acquired more than 3,600 tonnes of indium at auction from the Fanya Metal Exchange for its ITO, IZO and IGZO business.
Last week, Samsung Corning Advanced Glass approved the sales to Vital in its board meeting. It now has one factory left in South Korea at Asan. Asan produces OLED substrate glasses. The company acquired the target business from Samsung Corning Precision Materials back in 2014.
