On February 4, Air Water announced that it acquired with effect from November 28, 2019 the total shares of Shin-Etsu Lead (Capital: 10 million yen with 33 employees) for affiliation, which is a manufacturer of trial products of mounting substrate for electronics parts.

Shin-Etsu Lead was established in April 1978 and developed as business the production of trial products of electronics mounting substrates and processing/molding of silicon rubber. The latest sales amounted to 0.3 billion yen for FY2019 ending September. It was in the business relationship with Air Water through the O-ring business for the silicon rubbers produced by Air Water Mach of Air Water’s group company.

Air Water’s chemical business is now heading for conversion into the manufacture of functional chemicals which can offer some unique material for the advanced fields like medical, agricultural and electronics industries.

The field of electronics materials, above all, is in a position environmentally to have to satisfy such requirements as microminiaturization, multilayer and resistance to severe heat in line with the realization of IoT or AI. Air Water has been making efforts to expand the functional chemical business aiming at the field.

In this field Air Water is developing the production and sales activities through its affiliates which engage in the business of various substrate materials, circuit products and semiconductor substrates. Taking note that there are lots of business partners related to Shin-Etsu Lead’s technical know-how and products like automotive or precision parts, Air Water anticipated a synergy effect by utilizing the sales channel and came to acquire the shares of Shin-Etsu Lead at this time.