Including the Netherlands and Germany
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is visiting Europe, including the Netherlands, from June 7 to 18.
Lee will visit ASML in Veldhoven, the Netherlands, the only producer of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) exposure equipment for advanced semiconductor microfabrication processes. He visited ASML in October 2020 to get detailed information about EUV equipment production. Industry insiders expect that the competition to secure EUV equipment will intensify beginning from next year as Samsung Electronics, TSMC, and Intel begin their massive investment in foundries.
Lee is also expected to visit Siemens in Germany, a long-time partner that supplies electronic design automation (EDA) solutions for advanced foundry processes.
As Lee resumes his overseas business trip, some analysts relate it to the M&A deals that Samsung Electronics is pursuing. Earlier, Samsung Group announced a mid- to long-term plan to invest a total of 450 trillion won over the next five years until 2026. Of the total, 90 trillion won, or 20 percent, will be invested overseas. It is expected to be spent on facility investment and M&A deals.
Europe is home to many system semiconductor companies. NXP of the Netherlands and Infineon of Germany, which are both automotive semiconductor companies, have been mentioned as acquisition candidates for Samsung Electronics several times before.
ARM, a British semiconductor design company, has received much attention from global semiconductor companies. Many industry observers are keeping a close eye on whether Samsung Electronics will participate in competition to take over ARM. Currently, Intel, SK Hynix, and Qualcomm are showing a big interest in ARM.
As it is highly likely that the acquisition of ARM will be pursued through the formation of consortia due to monopoly issues, Vice Chairman Lee met with Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger in Seoul at the end of May to discuss ways to promote cooperation between the two chipmakers. The meeting led to the possibility of the two companies’ formation of a consortium.