The display company behind Amazon’s Kindle electronic reader is being acquired. Prime View International, a Taiwanese-based business, is acquiring E Ink for $215 million, according to the companies.
PVI is providing an equity placement and a convertible bond led by KGI, a Taiwanese securities company. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter, once regulatory approvals are met.
PVI and Cambridge, Mass-based E Ink have collaborated over the past few years by developing the e-book displays of the Kindle, Sony Reader and now the Kindle DX, which is slated to be available June 10. Since launching in 1997, E Ink has captured the attention of investors who provided a total of $150 million in funding.
PVI has been on an acquisition path in the last several years to increase the development of its electronic paper business. In 2008, PVI bought a 74 percent stake in Hydis Technologies of Korea, which boosted the company’s capacity. Before that, PVI acquired the e-paper business of Phillips Electronics.
Acquiring E Ink was a natural progression for the company.
“It’s good news on all fronts,” said Srira Peruvemba, vice president of marketing at E INK. “From a product-development standpoint, this will accelerate our ability to bring out color and flexible display.”
Both companies were working independently on color and flexible display with some collaboration. Each company, however, has had to file separate patents along the way. Now, according to Peruvemba, they can focus on the same developments and better attack the market as one entity.
Once combined, the new entity will begin working on flexible displays for e-readers.
“You can have a newspaper device that will be dropped on the floor and it will not shatter; this is the fundamental advantage with flexible displays,” Peruvemba added.
The company also plans to go after the newspaper market…