S.Korea's SKC to sell fine ceramic business for $270 mn

South Korea's SKC Ltd. announced on Tuesday it will sell the fine ceramics business of its subsidiary SK enpulse, a semiconductor materials investment firm, to the domestic private equity fund Hahn & Company.

SK enpulse held a board meeting on Monday to transfer the fine ceramics business to Hahn & Co. for 360 billion won ($267 million). The company plans to complete the transaction by Jan. next year.

Fine ceramics refer to materials that enhance electrical characteristics and durability over conventional ceramic materials, using high-purity inorganic compounds. SK enpulse supplies various parts required for semiconductor and display processes based on key fine ceramics materials such as alumina (aluminum oxide), silicon, silicon carbide, quartz and others. This has contributed to increasing the proportion of domestically produced semiconductor materials and components.

SKC has been accelerating its restructuring of the semiconductor business, focusing on higher-value new businesses. The company sold SK enpulse's wet chemicals and cleaning, invested in the US semiconductor packaging technology company Chipletz, and acquired semiconductor test solution company ISC. 

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com