Arkema Completes Acquisition of Leading Polyimide Film Manufacturer

On December 1, Arkema announced that it had completed the acquisition of a 54% stake in PI Advanced Materials (PIAM), a Korean listed company and global leader in polyimide films. The acquisition complements Arkema's portfolio of high-performance technologies for high-growth markets such as advanced electronics and electric vehicles.

The acquisition of this 54% majority stake will bring PIAM 100% into Arkema's books, based on an enterprise value of €728 million.

Headquartered in South Korea, PIAM holds more than 30% of the market share and is the global leader in polyimide films used in high-growth, high-value-added markets such as mobile devices and electric vehicles.

In the coming years, PIAM's sales are expected to grow at an annual rate of over 13%, driven by new cutting-edge applications such as 5G antennas, high-resolution OLED displays, flexible screens and electric vehicles, and supported by recent capacity expansions.

This highly innovative company has two state-of-the-art industrial production sites and two R&D centers in South Korea and employs approximately 320 people. During 2012-2021, PIAM focused on high-quality and high-value-added products, with average annual sales growth of up to 12% and EBITDA profit margins of 30%. Temporarily affected by the large-scale destocking of the global consumer electronics market, sales in 2022 will be approximately 200 million euros.

After the divestment of PMMA, the acquisition of Ashland Adhesives and the launch of the bio-PA11 plant currently in Singapore, Arkema is achieving another important milestone in its strategy to focus on innovative materials for a sustainable world", Thierry Le Hénaff, chairman and CEO of Arkema, said:" This acquisition is fully consistent with our strategy to be at the forefront of high-performance materials in high-growth end markets supported by megatrends such as electric vehicles and advanced electronics.

PIAM's ultra-high performance polyimides are cutting-edge materials that offer extremely high temperature resistance, dimensional stability, flexibility and electrical insulation. Benefiting from the growing demand for miniaturization, higher thermal management, and improved safety and durability, they are increasingly used in electric vehicles, consumer electronics, semiconductor manufacturing, and other advanced industrial applications.

In addition, PIAM’s product portfolio will strengthen Arkema’s high-performance polymer product range, coupled with a perfect geographical fit with the group (PIAM has a plant in Gyeongsang north Road, South Korea, and Arkema’s Chilseo plant is located in Gyeongsang south Road), it is expected to achieve synergies of approximately 30 million euros in EBITDA over the next five years.