A consortium led by MBK Partners, the North Asian private equity giant controlled by Korean billionaire Michael Kim, is acquiring Japanese advanced printed circuit boards maker FICT at an enterprise value of 100 billion yen (about $660 million).
The consortium, joined by U.S. semiconductor testing company Formfactor, has signed a share purchase agreement with Japanese private equity firm Advantage Partners, MBK said in a statement on Thursday. MBK will acquire an 80% stake in FICT, while Formfactor will take the remaining 20%.
Based in Nagano, central Japan, FICT was established nearly five decades ago as a printed circuit board unit of Fujitsu, and spun off from the Japanese tech behemoth in 2002. FICT manufactures high-end printed circuit boards for supercomputers, semiconductor testing equipment and base stations.
MBK cited rising demand for semiconductor products amid the AI boom for its decision to invest in FICT. The transaction is expected to close within the current quarter, Formfactor said in a separate statement.
MBK, which manages more than $31 billion in assets, has in recent months been making headlines with its attempt to win management control of Korea Zinc, one of the world’s largest refined zinc producers. The buyout firm last September teamed up with Korea Zinc’s top shareholder Young Poong to launch a 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion) tender offer for a bigger ownership stake in the metals giant, hoping to oust its chairman Yun B. Choi from running the company.
The attempt by the MBK-Young Poong alliance, which has a nearly 41% stake in Korea Zinc, was however fended off by Choi, who owns roughly 35% together with U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital and groups friendly to him. In an extraordinary shareholding meeting in late January called to bring an end to the management feud, Choi retained boardroom control after striking a last-minute share purchase deal that effectively barred his rivals from voting. The MBK-Young Poong alliance has said it will take legal action against Choi and other management officials for the restriction of voting rights.
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