Rohm and Haas Co. has acquired Gracel
Display Inc., a developer and manufacturer of organic light emitting diode (OLED) materials.
The transaction, worth approximately $40 million, gives Rohm and Haas (Philadelphia, Penn.) controlling interest in South Korea-based Gracel.
The acquisition of Gracel and its portfolio of OLED materials broadens Rohm and Haas's growing Display Technologies business. Including the acquisition of Gracel, Rohm and Haas has invested $270 million during the last 1
2 months to build its Display Technologies business unit.
Rohm and Haas manufactures thin-film transistor photoresists and related materials as part of its Display Chemicals group. It added optical display films when it acquired Eastman Kodak's Light Management Films business in June 2007.
Rohm and Haas launched SKC Haas Display Films in December 2007, a new joint venture that develops and manufactures advanced films and filters for LCD and plasma displays.
Separately, Rohm and Haas will divest its 40 percent equity interest in UP Chemical Co., a South Korean firm that specializes 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.