Rohm and Haas Company Acquires Gracel Display

Rohm and Haas Company announced that it has acquired Gracel Display Inc, a developer and manufacturer of Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) materials. The transaction, worth approximately $40 million, gives Rohm and Haas controlling interest in South Korea-based Gracel.

The acquisition of Gracel and its portfolio of OLED materials broadens Rohm and Haas’s growing Display Technologies business. Rohm and Haas manufactures TFT (thin film transistor) photoresists and related materials as part of its Display Chemicals group, and added Optical Display Films when it acquired Eastman Kodak's Light Management Films business in June 2007. Rohm and Haas launched SKC Haas Display Films in December 2007, a new joint venture that develops and manufactures advanced films and filters for LCD and plasma displays. Including the acquisition of Gracel, Rohm and Haas has invested $270 million during the last 12 months to build its Display Technologies business unit.

“We’re pleased to welcome Gracel and its strong pipeline of OLED materials to Rohm and Haas,” said Dr Yi Hyon Paik, Vice President and Business Group Director, Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials. “Gracel has an excellent track record of innovation and an established customer base. In fact, its advanced OLED materials are used today in devices that are manufactured by leading display companies. The future of this technology is very bright, and we look forward to bringing a new generation of OLED materials to the growing display market.”

Advanced OLED technology offers many performance benefits to improve the brightness, clarity and efficiency of flat panel displays. OLED consumes a fraction of the power compared to traditional display technologies (an important consideration in portable devices), and offers higher brightness and contrast for ultra clear pictures, wider viewing angles and an extremely thin design. OLED technology has recently gained traction, and is being commercialized in an increasing number of applications. The use of OLEDs in displays is expected to grow significantly in the next 10 years.

Dr Pierre Brondeau, Rohm and Haas Executive Vice President, Business Group Executive, said that OLED is an important addition to the company’s display materials portfolio.

“As part of our Vision 2010 initiative, Rohm and Haas has accelerated its investment in growth platforms, including our Electronic Materials franchise. Over the last 12 months, we’ve focused on building a world class Display Technologies business,” Brondeau said. “OLED is a smart addition to our growing stable of display products—it’s a strong technology that’s in a great position to lead the industry in a new generation of ultra thin, crystal clear displays.”

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