Ashland buys 2 materials suppliers

Electronic News, April 11, 1994 by Walter Andrews

DUBLIN, OH10 Ashland Oil's Ashland Chemical Co. last week said it acquired two companies for undisclosed amounts as part of a semiconductor materials expansion strategy. In separate announcements, Ashland bought ACT, Inc. of Allentown, Pa., and its manufacturer's patented line of photoresist stripper chemicals, plus Eurobase S.p.A., an Italian manufacturer of chemicals and cleanroom packaging.

The two acquisitions will become part of Ashland Chemical's Electronics Chemicals division. Ashland is a leading supplier of etchants and cleaners; the ACT acquisition marks its first move into the photoresist market, while the Italian buy gives it a European manufacturing base.

"The ACT photoresist stripper technology has developed a strong presence in the U.S. and Asian markets. We plan to expand the business in these markets as well as introduce it into Europe," said Richard E. Hunter, VP and GM of the division.

The Eurobase purchase "will provide us with a European manufacturing base to better serve our growing customer base in this part of the world," Mr. Hunter said, adding Ashland will be transferring to the Eurobase facilities in San Guiliano near Milan its own technologies for chemical purification, clean containers and chemical analysis. Ashland Chemical will make its proprietary lines of chemicals at the Eurobase facilities, he said.

Mr. Hunter said Ashland also is contracting for warehouse space in Glasgow, Scotland; Dublin, Ireland; Brussels and Paris for local stocking of high-purity chemicals.

Dan Rose, president of Rose Associates, Los Altos, Calif., said currently Ashland Chemical is "the largest supplier of chemicals to the semiconductor industry in the U.S;A." He estimated its 1993 revenues "in the ballpark" of $100 million and said Ashland was comparable in size to Mitsubishi, the largest supplier of semiconductor chemicals in Japan.

Mr. Hunter said as a matter of company policy he could not confirm the revenue figures, but added: "I do believe we have the largest market share in the U.S." Ashland Chemical is currently not in negotiation with any other companies, he said, but will continue to aggressively seek to fill market niches. Asked if Asia, where Ashland has only a marketing and no manufacturing presence, was a niche to be filled, he replied: "I suppose that if we ran across an opportunity, we'd take a close look at it."

Two years ago, the firm acquired the ancillary chemicals line of KTI Chemicals, Inc. (EN, March 30, 1992) for an undisclosed amount. In December, 1991, it also bought for undisclosed terms the electronic chemicals business of Mallinckrodt Specialty Chemicals Co, and its line of acids, etchants, solvents and peroxides.