Corning and Samsung Display today announced a series of strategic collaborations that will effectively see Samsung acquire a 7.4% share in Corning and secure a 10-year supply agreement for about US$1.9 billion.
“We are excited to enter this new era of collaboration in our 40-year equity relationship with Samsung, one of the world leaders in consumer electronics,” Wendell P. Weeks, chairman, chief executive officer and president, said. “The agreements provide important financial and strategic benefits to both Corning and Samsung.”
As part of these transactions, the following will also happen:
- Corning will take full ownership of Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co., Ltd., a joint venture that manufactures LCD glass in Korea
- Samsung will invest US$400 million in Corning through a share subscription arrangement
- Corning and Samsung will increase collaboration on “strategic product development and commercialization initiatives”
Corning will also be able to expand production of Corning Gorilla Glass, improve upon it with enhanced anti-reflectivity and anti-microbial properties as well as new specialty glass applications such as its recently announced Gorilla Glass NBT glass for touch-enabled notebooks.
The announcement may give Samsung an additional edge in the area of flexible glass. Corning has been working on Willow, its own ultra-slim flexible glass, for some time now.
Corning and Samsung expect this set of agreements to close in the first quarter of 2014.
Source : Corning