Wacker Acquires Silicon Plant

Wacker is purchasing a 50,000-metric-ton-per-year silicon metal plant in Holla, Norway, from materials maker Fesil Group for about $80 million. Wacker says the transaction, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year after regulatory clearances, will supply it with about one-third of the silicon metal it needs to make silicone and polycrystalline silicon for semiconductors. “Holla makes us more independent of raw material price fluctuations and increases our supply security during peak demand periods,” says Rudolf Staudigl, Wacker’s CEO.