TLDR
- BE Semiconductor (BESI) stock rose about 9% Tuesday after Applied Materials (AMAT) said it will raise its stake to about 20% from 9%.
- AMAT stock gained about 3% on the day.
- Applied Materials signed an accelerated purchase agreement for the added Besi stock.
- Delivery depends on the U.S. Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust waiting period expiring or ending.
- Applied Materials says it wonāt go beyond 20% or seek a Besi board seat.
BE Semiconductor (BESI) stock rose more than 8% on Tuesday, trading up about 9% at the time of the report. Applied Materials (AMAT) stock gained about 3% on the same news.
BE Semiconductor Industries N.V., BESIY
The jump followed word from Applied Materials on Monday that it plans to lift its stake in Besi to about 20% from 9%. It has been Besiās largest holder since April 2025.
To get there, Applied Materials entered an accelerated purchase agreement for the added Besi stock. Think of it as the fast lane to a bigger position.
There is a catch, though. Delivery depends on the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 expiring or ending.
Applied Materials first bought in during April 2025. That deal gave it the 9% stake it holds today.
Reuters reported the plan late Monday in the U.S. Investing.com carried the Tuesday price moves.
A Partnership Built on Hybrid Bonding
The two companies have worked together since 2020. Their focus has been hybrid bonding, a key packaging method for high-performance chips.
Besi recently joined Applied Materialsā EPIC Center as an Innovation Partner. That step widened the work beyond hybrid bonding.
It now includes new interconnect designs and uses tied to AI chip scaling. Both firms are aiming at next-generation AI semiconductors.
Dr. Prabu Raja, President of the Semiconductor Products Group at Applied Materials, explained the thinking. He said hybrid bonding and new interconnect designs are becoming more important for energy-efficient AI computing.
Areas of work include 3D IC scaling and logic and memory integration. They also include scaling of thermo-compression bonding.
The firms will also look at die-on-wafer, die-on-die and die-on-panel integration platforms. It is a mouthful, but that is the actual list.
What Applied Materials Says It Wants
Applied Materials calls the investment long term. It has no plans to go beyond about 20%.
It also does not plan to seek a seat on Besiās board. So the bigger stake comes without a say in how Besi is run.
The setup stays simple. Applied Materials gets more of a partner it knows well, and Besi keeps its board as is.
The next item on the calendar is the antitrust waiting period. Once it expires or ends, delivery of the added Besi stock can go ahead.
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