[News] Applied Materials to Acquire ASMPT NEXX for $120M, Expanding Panel-Level Advanced Packaging Portfolio

As advanced packaging has emerged as a key growth opportunity amid the AI chip boom, equipment players are also making strategic moves across the value chain. According to ijiwei, Hong Kong–listed ASMPT has entered into a share purchase agreement with U.S. semiconductor equipment giant Applied Materials to divest its U.S.-based subsidiary ASMPT NEXX, with a base transaction value of US$120 million.

As the report explains, to protect the buyer’s interests, US$18 million will be withheld at closing as an indemnity escrow. The transaction remains subject to the satisfaction of several closing conditions, and both parties expect the process to be completed no later than July 29, 2026, the report notes, adding that upon completion, ASMPT NEXX, Inc. will cease to be consolidated within ASMPT Group’s financial statements.

Notably, Applied Materials, in its press release, points out that the deal will expand the firm’s portfolio in panel-level advanced packaging, adding the NEXX team and products to support the development of larger-format AI accelerators with improved performance and energy efficiency.

According to Applied Materials, as designs shift toward more complex 2.5D and 3D stacking, demand for larger interposers and advanced substrates is accelerating the transition from 300mm wafers to panel formats of up to 510 × 515mm or larger, enabling higher integration and greater output scaling.

As per ASMPT’s website, ASMPT NEXX is a leading provider of advanced packaging deposition equipment for the semiconductor industry, supplying sputtering (PVD) and electrochemical deposition (ECD) systems to customers worldwide. Its product portfolio includes wafer-level sputtering equipment, wafer-level plating systems, and panel-level plating solutions, which are widely used across key advanced packaging applications, including wafer-level packaging, 2.5D/3D integrated circuits, fan-out technologies, embedded die, and other forms of heterogeneous integration.

It is worth noting that ASMPT had flagged earlier that in line with strategic portfolio alignment, the Group has decided to divest the ASMPT NEXX within its Semiconductor Solutions segment through a sale transaction. Thus, the NEXX business was classified as a discontinued operation in 2025, in anticipation of its planned divestment.

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(Photo credit: Applied Materials)