US semiconductor major Applied Materials is raising its stake in Dutch company BESI to approximately 20% to deepen cooperation in AI advanced packaging. The transaction must undergo US antitrust review.
Applied Materials announced that it would raise its stake in Dutch packaging-equipment maker BESI from the current 9% to approximately 20%. The investment will be made through a capital raise, and the company reiterated its policy of not seeking direct control of management under the current shareholder structure. The transaction still requires US antitrust review and is awaiting approval.
Applied Materials, which first invested in BESI in April 2025 and acquired a 9% stake, has secured its position as BESI's largest shareholder. Its stake is expected to approach 20% after the capital raise, but the company has no intention of making further investments to seek board seats, positioning the investment as a long-term strategic investment focused on technical cooperation. The two companies are jointly developing connectivity and packaging technologies for next-generation AI semiconductors and continue to promote the Kinex integrated die-to-wafer approach centered on hybrid bonding. Sharing BESI's related technologies and customer base is cited as one of the aims.
Hybrid bonding is characterized by directly bonding copper interconnects and dielectric layers without the conventional need for bumps, with expected improvements in connection density and performance. BESI is said to hold approximately 70% of the market. The Datacon 8800 CHAMEO ultra plus AC offers 100-nanometer precision and capacity of up to 2,000 cycles per hour. Orders in 2025 increased substantially year on year, and the customer base is expanding.
While the rise of Chinese companies has also been highlighted and concerns about competition with ASML have been raised, BESI has denied them. The market is watching the move to strengthen resource allocation to back-end AI chip processes. Piotech's revenue from hybrid-bonding equipment reached approximately ¥3.2 billion in 2025, intensifying competition in the wafer-to-wafer hybrid-bonding market.