ITEQ and MGC’s Joint Venture for the Laminated Material Business for IC Substrates adopted in the Semiconductor Applications

ITEQ CORPORATION (ITEQ; Head Office: Hsinchu, Taiwan; Chief Executive Officer: Audrey Tsai) is pleased to announce that we have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture company in Taiwan for the purpose of manufacturing and selling products that it has jointly developed with Japanese chemical manufacturer Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc. (MGC).

ITEQ, one of the leading global copper clad laminates and prepregs vendors, provides high speed/high frequency- low loss, lead-free and environment-friendly materials such as halogen-free materials. Product application includes network communications, automotive electronics, smart phones, consumer electronics and other related markets. The ultra-low loss and ultra-high frequency materials developed by ITEQ are highly acknowledged by customers and well adopted in the 5G infrastructure and hyperscale data center applications.

MGC provides Laminated Materials for printed circuit boards for semiconductor package applications, which are characterized by high heat resistance and low thermal expansion using its proprietary technology “BT Resin”, and which have been highly regarded in the market. And, they have been widely used in semiconductor applications such as mobile phones, personal computers, and automobiles.

The semiconductor market is expected to grow further, driven by increased investment in data centers, the widespread of the 5th generation mobile communications (5G), and technological innovation in the automotive industry (CASE/ADAS).

In response to the expansion of the semiconductor market in the future, ITEQ and MGC will work to provide new products for IC substrates that meet the market demands by utilizing the technologies, equipment and knowledge of both companies by establishing this joint venture.

<Main agreement>

-Establishment of a joint venture in Taiwan (subject to approval by the competition law authorities in each country and region)

-The investment ratio of the joint venture is 49% for ITEQ and 51% for MGC.

-The business scope of the joint venture is the manufacture and sale of copper-clad laminates and prepregs for IC substrates adopted in the semiconductor applications.

<Outline of Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc.>

Company name : Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc. (三菱ガス化学株式会社 in Japanese)

Location : Mitsubishi Building, 5-2, Marunouchi 2-chome Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Date of Establishment : April 21st, 1951

Capital: Japanese Yen 41.97 billion (as of the end of March, 2020)

Sales: Japanese Yen 611.3 billion (consolidated) (FY2019, as of the end of March, 2020)

Representative Director, President : Mr. Masashi Fujii

Business activities: Manufacture and sale of various chemical products

Number of employees: 8,954 (consolidated) (as of the end of March, 2020)