Mitsui Chemicals signed an agreement on Monday, November 9, 2026 to take control of JSR, a Japanese supplier of materials essential for the manufacture of semiconductors. The operation reached 1,840 billion yen, including debt and other items, or about $11.6 billion. The Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) will participate in the financing. Reconciliation remains subject to regulatory authorities.
Mitsui Chemicals targets chip materials
JSR confirms that the funds managed by JIC Capital have entered into a contract covering all of its common shares. After making and converting DBJ securities into preferential shares without voting rights, Mitsui Chemicals will hold all voting rights. JSR will become a consolidated subsidiary of the group.
The manufacturer intends to continue its strategy focused on electronic materials, screens and optical applications. It presents rapprochement as a means of strengthening research, product development and global supply capacities.
Its role lies upstream of the finished processors. Photosensitive resins, or photoresists, are used to transfer circuit motifs to silicon plates. Light exposure changes their chemical behaviour locally. The development then allows to keep the design sought before the engraving steps. JSR offers products suitable for extreme ultraviolet lithography, used for advanced chips.
Mitsui Chemicals wants to associate these resins with its own materials. Its portfolio includes the protective membranes of lithography masks and ribbons used in plate processing. In this way, the group seeks to expand its offer over several manufacturing stages, rather than becoming itself a processor designer.
A price that includes debt
The 1,840 billion yen announced is not just the price of shares. The set-up distinguishes 1,392.1 billion in equity value and 447.9 billion in interest-bearing debt and other items. DBJ will bring 200 billion yen. The final amount will be adjusted at closure.
To finance the whole, Mitsui is planning a relay loan of 1,640 billion yen, supplemented by DBJ’s investment. The group then considered bank loans, bonds and intermediate financing instruments. It recorded a program to raise up to 150 billion yen in common shares. The timetable and modalities for such lifting have not yet been agreed.
Industrial gains still to be realized
In its presentation to investors, Mitsui Chemicals sets a target of some 40 billion yen of additional annual earnings over the financial year 2035. These expected gains are based on trade development and reconciliation savings. They are not achieved.
Financing will first weigh on the balance sheet. The net debt-to-EBITDA ratio is expected to temporarily exceed four times. The group aims at debt relief over three years and wants to maintain financial strength consistent with a category A rating. Shareholders will also need to assess the dilution related to potential emissions.
The market welcomed the announcement with caution: the Mitsui Chemicals action lost about 8.5% Monday in Tokyo, according to a news agency. Price and the use of debt are among the questions raised about this industrial transformation.
JSR warns that authorisations for competition and control of foreign investment can change the timing or even prevent the transaction. Mitsui Chemicals aims at a production between October 2027 and March 2028. The November signature therefore does not yet correspond to the actual transfer of control.
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