South Korean Doosan group nears $3.3B deal to acquire SK Siltron

May 18 (Asia Today) -- Doosan Group is close to finalizing its acquisition of SK Siltron, the world's third-largest semiconductor wafer maker, in a deal expected to accelerate Doosan's shift toward semiconductor materials.

Industry and investment banking sources said Monday that Doosan is expected to soon sign a stock purchase agreement for a 70.6% stake in SK Siltron. The stake includes 51% held by SK Group and 19.6% tied to a total return swap contract.

Doosan was selected in December as the preferred bidder for SK Siltron.

The company is also expected to acquire the remaining 29.4% stake personally held by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won through a separate agreement by the end of the year.

The total acquisition is estimated at about 5 trillion won, or about $3.3 billion.

The deal reflects Doosan's strategy to expand its semiconductor materials value chain. SK Siltron is South Korea's only producer of silicon wafers for semiconductors. Wafers are a core material used in the front-end stage of chip production.

Demand for advanced wafers is expected to rise structurally as demand grows for artificial intelligence chips and high-bandwidth memory.

Doosan entered the semiconductor business in 2022 by acquiring the chip testing company Tesna, now Doosan Tesna. It later strengthened its back-end chipmaking capabilities by merging with semiconductor packaging company Engion.

If the SK Siltron acquisition is completed, Doosan would build a semiconductor business structure spanning wafers for front-end production, testing and packaging for back-end production, copper-clad laminate materials through Doosan Corp.'s electronics business group and robotics and automation solutions.

Doosan Group has focused since 2020 on smart machines, clean energy and advanced materials as its core growth pillars. The SK Siltron deal is expected to further increase the group's exposure to the semiconductor sector.

-- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260518010004661

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This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 7:34 PM.