Hahn & Co. buys SK Enpulse’s chip wafer polishing pad business

Seoul-based private equity firm Hahn & Co. has agreed to buy the chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) pads manufacturing division of SK Enpulse Co., wholly owned by SKC Ltd., for 341.0 billion won ($233 million), the latest in a series of its acquisitions of SK Group’s businesses.

A CMP pad is used to physically and chemically polish the surface of semiconductor wafers to enhance the integration of semiconductors. Demand for the consumable is rising thanks to the increase in three-dimensional NAND flash production.

The disposal of the business is aimed at improving its financial conditions, SK Enpulse said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday. The deal will close on April 1, 2025.

The acquisition follows Hahn & Co.’s 330.3-billion-won purchase in October of SK Enpulse’s fine ceramics business, which produces consumable materials such as alumina, silicon and quartz used in semiconductor and display manufacturing processes.

On Tuesday, the buyout firm also agreed to purchase an 85% stake in the world’s top specialty gas producer SK Specialty Co. for 2.7 trillion won from SK Inc.

Hahn & Co. has snapped up multiple units of SK Group including SK Shipping Co., K Car Co., SK D&D Co. and SKC’s industrial film business since 2018. SK Group is South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate.

Apart from the latest deal with the private equity house, SK Enpulse will spin off the business that produces testers, equipment front end modules (EFEM) and chemicals used for the final steps of semiconductor manufacturing.

Write to Ji-Eun Ha at hazzys@hankyung.com
 

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.