August 14, 2007 – Rohm and Haas Co. and SKC Inc. are forming a joint venture to develop, manufacture and market advanced optical and functional films for use with liquid crystal and plasma flat-panel displays.

The deal involves spinning off SKC’s Korea-based display technologies business into a separate legal entity, with Rohm & Haas investing $190 million for a 51% controlling interest. The JV will make and sell a suite of specialty display films for LCD and plasma displays, as well as dispersions of pigments for making LCD color filter plates. The firms projects sales of about $300 million in its first year of operation, increasing to $350M in 2008.

In a statement, the US company noted that it has spent $230M in the past year (including its April 2007 purchase of Eastman Kodak’s light management films business) to create a new business unit in its Electronic Materials group, developing and manufacturing a variety of products for flat-panel displays including TFT photoresists and color filter chrome patterning.

Jang Suk Park, president of SKC Inc., and Yi Hyon Paik, VP and business group director of Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials, stated that Rohm and Haas brings to the JV its “excellent reputation for materials innovation and research excellence” and an “impressive” product pipeline, while SKC, in addition to its own broad line-up of film technologies, will offer established manufacturing capability and customer relationships in Asia.