SOITEC AND SK INNOVATION TO COLLABORATE ON ADVANCED SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
Partners to Leverage Their Synergies in Creating Breakthrough Products for Semiconductor and Related Markets
Seoul, South Korea and Bernin (Grenoble), France, November 24, 2014 - Soitec (Euronext), a world leader in generating and manufacturing revolutionary semiconductor materials for the electronics and energy industries, and SK Innovation (SKI), the leader of Korea's energy industry for the past five decades and a pioneering company in the fields of energy, lubricants, petrochemicals, organic materials, information electronic materials, and lithium-ion batteries, have signed a Collaboration Agreement (CA) to establish a strategic alliance focused on accelerating innovation in the area of semiconductor materials for information communication technologies and internet-of-things applications. The collaborative partnership will build on the synergy between the companies.
At the outset, the alliance will focus on innovating engineered substrates and the processes for fabricating these materials. The partners' joint goal is to bring the first products to market by early 2017 in applications. These breakthrough products will allow Soitec to grow its global market presence.
SKI brings to the partnership extensive application knowledge and a diverse market presence, as well as the strength of the much diversified SK Group, which operates the leading telecom company and semiconductor company in Korea. Soitec contributes its business expertise, extensive patent portfolio, and global knowledge & infrastructure in mass producing products for the semiconductor markets.
"Our partnership gives SK Innovation and Soitec the power to develop new materials and very quickly bring innovations to market," said Carlos Mazure, Soitec's chief technical officer. "This is a very important first step for Soitec as we team up with Korea's leader in energy and materials development to leverage our two companies' strong synergies."
"This alliance is in line with SKI's roadmap towards new business opportunities in inorganic materials and fits well with SK Group's strengths," said Byong-sung Kwak, president of Global Technology and chief technical officer of SK Innovation. "Because our company seeks to achieve its mission of becoming a truly innovative technology-driven company by fostering a corporate culture that values the spirit of challenge, creativity, and a positive attitude, and building the creative facilities necessary to support this culture, our alliance is well-equipped to succeed in high-growth markets, such as energy and semiconductor materials."
Although the first phase of the agreement targets semiconductor materials development, the alliance could be extended to include manufacturing and commercial development.
About Soitec:
Soitec is an international manufacturing company, a world leader in generating and manufacturing revolutionary semiconductor materials at the frontier of the most exciting energy and electronic challenges. Soitec's products include substrates for microelectronics (most notably SOI: silicon-on-insulator) and concentrator photovoltaic systems (CPV). The company's core technologies are Smart Cut(TM), Smart Stacking(TM) and Concentrix(TM), as well as expertise in epitaxy. Applications include consumer and mobile electronics, microelectronics-driven IT, telecommunications, automotive electronics, lighting products and large-scale solar power plants. Soitec has manufacturing plants and R&D centers in France, Singapore, Germany and the United States. For more information, visit: www.soitec.com and follow us on Twitter: @Soitec_EN and @Soitec_FR
| Soitec International Media Contacts (trade press) Camille Dufour +33 (0)6 79 49 51 43 camille.dufour@soitec.com (business press) Marylen Schmidt +33 (0) 4 76 92 87 83 marylen.schmidt@soitec.com | Soitec Investor Relations Olivier Brice +33 (0)4 76 92 93 80 olivier.brice@soitec.com |
About SK Innovation:
SK Innovation is one of the world's leading energy and petrochemical companies that focuses its R&D and business capabilities on lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, information electronic materials, and overseas resource exploration and production. SK Innovation operates five subsidiary companies: SK Energy, SK Incheon Petrochemical, SK Trading International, SK Global Chemical and SK Lubricants. SK Energy is the largest oil refiner and marketer in Korea. SK Incheon Petrochemical focuses on high-value-added petrochemical products including para-xylene, while SK Trading International trades petrochemical and crude oil products. SK Global Chemical, a global leader in the green chemicals and life sciences, is especially active in the burgeoning Asian market. SK Lubricants is a global leader in the base oil and lubricant market through affiliations with major European, North American and Asian companies. SK Innovation employs nearly 6,500 people and posted KRW 66.7 trillion in sales in 2013. For more information, visit: http://eng.skinnovation.com.
SK Innovation Media Contacts:
JUNG-MIN, YOO
Public Relations Team
Telephone: (82)2-2121-5955
Mobile: (82)10-8907-5080
Email: jm3321@sk.com
