The company, which originally developed ald technology in Finland, was sold to Applied Materials in the United States.
Finn the semiconductor company Picosun has been sold to the US industry giant Applied Materials.
The company, which is based in Masala, Espoo and Kirkkonummi, is developing ald technology, ie atomic layer education, especially for the semiconductor industry. The company has operations in Europe, the United States and Asia and employs more than 200 people.
The company’s sales last year were more than 42 million euros. This year, the company says it has sold more in less than half a year than it did last year.
Ald is a nanometer-thin thin film technology originally developed in Finland and used in 5g, electric cars, rfid chips, object coating, flexible and transparent displays, medical tools, bone screws and dental implants, among others.
Picosunin Chairman of the Board Gustav Poutiainen says that the company ‘s sale to the U.S. giant will best contribute to the global conquest of Picosun’ s technology at this point.
“It’s happening a lot faster now than it would have if we had stayed independent,” Poutiainen says.
He assures that the company would have found sufficient financing in Finland as well. According to Poutiainen, listing on the stock exchange was the only other option for Picosun that was genuinely considered in the company.
“This is the best player in the industry, whose technology is complemented by our technology. We got along perfectly. ”
Applied Materials is a U.S. – listed company with sales of more than $ 23 billion last year. The company has 27,000 employees in 19 countries and a market capitalization of approximately $ 80 billion.
The company says it is the market leader in materials technology solutions used in almost every new chip and advanced display around the world.
Picosunin operations will continue in Finland and all its employees will be transferred to the new owner. A Finnish state-of-the-art technology company the reins were still now sold abroad.
However, Poutiainen prefers to talk about the matter in such a way that with the acquisition, a large American technology company came to Finland.
“We get a company in Finland that any state would pay to enter and invest in the country. Of course, it is unfortunate that such a dear child leaves the world, but this is an excellent solution for the career development of employees, technological development and Finland, for example, ”says Poutiainen.
Poutiainen also points out that almost all of the company’s current owners are Finns, so the deal may also be reflected in future investments in Finland.
In addition to Stephen Industries, the Poutiainen family’s investment company, Picosun’s owners have included R.Roth oy, Hiidenkivi oy and the Capman Growth fund, First Fellow Partners and Tesi, which joined in the previous round of financing.
The parties to the transaction do not disclose the purchase price, but Poutiainen describes it as significant. Capman, on the other hand, said in its own press release that Picosun is the most valuable portfolio company in Capman’s entire operating history in terms of corporate value at the time of the sale.
According to HS, the transaction amounts to hundreds of millions of euros.
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“Of course it feels sad that such a beloved child is leaving the world.”
Picosun was founded in the early millennium, but its operation The story of the underlying ALD technology dates back to Finland in the 1970s. The technology was then developed Tuomo Suntola also belongs to the owners of Picosun.
The invention was born when Suntola considered developing a flat electroluminescent display on Instrumentarium’s payroll. The display built at Ald was born, but the company that bought the technology had difficulty getting industrial production to work. The business was sold to the United States.
Suntola moved with his colleagues Sven Lindforsin with Neste and Lohja, a jointly owned Microchemistry company, to develop ald’s applications. Microchemistry began selling ald reactors mainly for research use.
When Fortum was formed in 1997 through the merger of Ivo and Neste, the company sold Microchemistry to ASM in the Netherlands. The semiconductor industry was already close to the time when ald would become a key manufacturing technology for the most advanced microprocessors.
ASM had a turnover of more than EUR 1.7 billion last year and a market capitalization of more than EUR 11.6 billion.