Applied Materials Plans to Raise Besi Stake to About 20%

Applied Materials plans to buy additional shares of BE Semiconductor Industries N.V. (Besi), raising its stake to about 20% and making the U.S. chip-equipment company a larger investor in its Dutch partner.

Applied entered an accelerated share purchase agreement for additional Besi shares, which would bring its holding to approximately 20% of Besi’s outstanding shares. The planned purchase’s share count and price have not been disclosed. Applied said it has no current intention to increase its investment beyond about 20% or seek representation on Besi’s board.

In April 2025, Applied said it had purchased 9% of Besi’s outstanding shares. Applied’s exact holding immediately before the planned purchase is unspecified; it expects to hold about 20% after the purchase.

The companies have worked together since 2020. On Oct. 1, Besi joined Applied’s EPIC Center as an Innovation Partner. Their expanded technical collaboration covers advanced packaging for AI chip scaling, including hybrid bonding, thermo-compression bonding, interconnect designs, 3D integrated-circuit scaling, and logic and memory integration. It also includes die-on-wafer, die-on-die and die-on-panel platforms.

Dr. Prabu Raja, president of Applied Materials’ Semiconductor Products Group, said the technologies “become increasingly critical enablers of energy-efficient AI compute performance.” Besi CEO and chairman Richard Blickman called joining the EPIC Center as an Innovation Partner “a natural next step.”

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, Besi’s revenue rose 113.6% from a year earlier, while orders increased 96.1%. The company forecast fourth-quarter revenue to be broadly flat, within 5% above or below its third-quarter figure. The growth figures compare each measure with the year-earlier quarter; the fourth-quarter forecast covers revenue.

The additional shares can be delivered after the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, a U.S. antitrust law, expires or is terminated. The expected delivery date remains unspecified.