Applied Materials moves to own about 20 percent of Besi

What happened

Applied Materials said on Monday 26 October that it agreed to buy more shares of BE Semiconductor Industries, the Dutch maker of chip assembly equipment known as Besi, lifting its holding to about 20 percent. ^{[1, 2]}

The purchase runs through an accelerated share purchase agreement, and the shares are delivered only once the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, the US premerger antitrust review, ends. Neither the filing nor the release names the seller or states the amount paid. ^{[1, 2]}

Applied said it views the investment as long term, has no intention to go beyond about 20 percent, and does not intend to seek a seat on Besi's board. Reuters reported the holding rises from 9 percent. ^{[2, 3]}

Why it matters

In April 2025 Applied bought its first 9 percent in market transactions, which Reuters reported made it Besi's largest shareholder, and said then it had no plans to buy more. ^{[5, 3]}

The bet is on Besi's growth in hybrid bonding. Besi reported third-quarter revenue of 283.4 million euros and said its hybrid bonding orders for 2026 so far were more than double those of all of 2025. ^[7]

What hybrid bonding is

Hybrid bonding joins chips with direct copper-to-copper bonds, which packs connections closer and shortens the wiring between them, Applied said in 2025. The two companies have worked on it since 2020, and that work produced Kinex, which they call the first integrated die-to-wafer hybrid bonding system. ^{[5, 6]}

On Thursday 1 October the companies widened the partnership: Besi joined Applied's EPIC Center in Silicon Valley as an Innovation Partner. The work now covers thermo-compression bonding and die-on-wafer, die-on-die and die-on-panel designs, the release said. ^{[6, 2]}

What settles it next

The delivery of the shares waits on the end of the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period, and no date for it is given. ^[1]

Degroof Petercam analyst Michael Roeg wrote that Applied 'would love to buy Besi' but that China's regulator would likely block such a deal, Reuters reported. Reuters noted China was about 30 percent of Applied's 2025 revenue and Besi has a plant in Leshan, China. ^[4]

Who it reaches

Applied Materials (AMAT) is direct: the agreement and the 8-K are its own. Besi trades in Amsterdam, not in the US, so it is named here without a ticker of the desk's universe. ^{[1, 2]}