AI-enabled semiconductors Merck to Acquire French Firm Unity-SC

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Merck has plans to takeover French firm Unity-SC, a provider of metrology and inspection instrumentation for the semiconductor industry. With this move, the firm aims to strengthen its offering for AI-enabled semiconductors.

Darmstadt/Germany – Merck intends to acquire Unity-SC, a provider of metrology and inspection instrumentation for the semiconductor industry. The transaction amount includes a payment of 155 million euros as well as further milestone-based payments. Based in Montbonnot-Saint-Martin near Grenoble, France, Unity-SC employs approximately 160 people, of whom 70 work in research & development.

“The acquisition of Unity-SC complements our science and technology-driven portfolio for the semiconductor industry. It strengthens our ability to benefit from the growth opportunities of Artificial Intelligence as an integrated solutions provider for our customers in developing next-generation chips,” said Belén Garijo, Chair of the Executive Board and CEO of Merck.

The highly precise metrology measurement devices of Unity-SC make it possible to further optimize the quality, yield, and manufacturing costs of chips used in applications related to Artificial Intelligence (AI), High-Performance Computing (HPC), and High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM). As quality requirements in the semiconductor industry are particularly high, measuring and evaluating physical properties are crucial steps in quality control for the production of modern chips. Among other things, Unity-SC specializes in the testing of chips produced via “Advanced Packaging” and “Heterogeneous Integration”. In both these processes, numerous smaller chips – also known as chiplets – are stacked in a very small space to form a mostly three-dimensional structure. This results in high-performance chips for the most demanding fields of application, such as AI data centers, autonomous vehicles, 5G, smartphones, and virtual reality.

The combination of Unity-SC's measurement technologies with Merck's offering in the field of semiconductor materials will contribute to the development of computer chips required for the next steps in innovating AI and other applications. “We are convinced that 3D metrology tools will further advance the semiconductor industry. Adding metrology to our portfolio allows us to provide more materials and more solutions that effectively solve our customers challenges in developing ever faster, more powerful, and more efficient chips,” said Kai Beckmann, Member of the Executive Board of Merck and CEO Electronics.

“We can benefit from the broad knowledge Merck has in semiconductor materials manufacturing and their extensive optical expertise in light manipulation. Together with Merck, we can create high value solutions to serve our common customers. We are looking forward to becoming an integral part of a global company with close customer relationships and an extensive offering to the semiconductor industry,” said Dan Lee, CEO of Unity-SC.

The intended acquisition requires a French works council's consultation and would remain subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions. Subject to meeting the relevant requirements, it is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

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