Applied Materials Raises Besi Stake to About 20%, Rules Out Takeover

Applied Materials will hold roughly 20% of BE Semiconductor Industries after increasing its stake, the company said in a statement on Monday. The US toolmaker first disclosed a 9% position in the Dutch company, known as Besi, only last year. The new ceiling is explicit. Applied does not plan to go beyond it.

The declaration matters as much as the purchase. "Applied currently has no intention to increase its investment in Besi beyond approximately 20%, and Applied does not intend to seek board representation at Besi," the company said. Applied called the investment "long term". A full takeover is not in the works, it confirmed. Investors should read both sentences together, because minority stakes in semiconductor suppliers often precede consolidation. Here, Applied has ruled that out in writing.

Besi shares rose as much as 10% in Amsterdam trading on Tuesday. That was the stock's biggest intraday gain since March. The shares have climbed 19% this year and now carry a market value of about €12.9 billion (RM58.97 billion). Applied closed 2.7% higher at US$387.59 (RM1,582) in New York on Monday.

Why hybrid bonding sits at the center of the deal

Besi specializes in hybrid bonding, a chip assembly technology that boosts AI performance by stacking dies with direct copper-to-copper connections instead of solder. Makers of equipment for AI chips and the data centers that run them are seeing surging demand, and hybrid bonding has become a critical step in advanced packaging for that market. Besi is becoming a more important part of the AI computing supply chain, Applied said.

The statement did not quantify that demand. No revenue forecasts, order figures or capacity targets accompanied the announcement. The commercial logic rests on a technology position, not on disclosed numbers.

Six years of collaboration, and one shared lab

The investment follows a six-year collaboration between the two companies. Besi also recently joined Applied's new chip-equipment research facility, known as the EPIC Center. That membership gives Besi a seat inside Applied's process development infrastructure, where packaging tools must integrate with deposition and lithography steps.

Neither company disclosed financial terms of the stake increase. The purchase price, the tranche structure and any lockup conditions remain unpublished. What Applied bought beyond 20% of a listed stock is, in effect, preferential access to a partner it cannot yet absorb.

What about ASML?

Last week, Besi rebuffed analysts' concerns that ASML Holding, the larger Dutch chip-equipment maker, was emerging as a competitor in hybrid bonding. That dispute frames the Applied move. If ASML enters advanced packaging tools, Besi's niche narrows. An anchor shareholder with Applied's scale changes that calculation, though no party has said so publicly.

The competitive detail is notable for what it lacks. Besi offered a rebuttal, not market share data. The analysts' concerns were about a roadmap threat, not a shipping product. Neither company has announced a competing hybrid bonding tool with confirmed specifications.

The strategic read

A 20% ceiling without board seats is an unusual structure for a strategic stake. It signals commitment while avoiding consolidation accounting and Dutch takeover scrutiny. It also leaves Besi independent, which preserves its relationships with chipmakers who compete with Applied's customers.

Applied gains influence over a packaging technology it cannot easily build itself. Besi gains a deep-pocketed ally and access to the EPIC Center. What neither gains, on the published record, is exclusivity. The statement says nothing about preferential supply terms, joint product commitments or co-development contracts.

Applied's position will now track one of the sharper questions in semiconductor equipment: whether hybrid bonding demand from AI chipmakers justifies Besi's €12.9 billion valuation. The stock's 19% gain this year assumes it does. Applied's capped stake suggests it wants exposure to that answer without owning the risk outright.