Covestro strengthen its presence within the optical fibre coatings market with the acquisition of Japan Fine Coatings Co., Ltd.
Covestro has announced that, on 14th January 2022, it has become the sole owner of Japan Fine Coatings Co., Ltd. The acquisition of the company, that was previously managed as a joint venture with JSR Corporation, will allow Covestro to further strengthen its presence in the market of optical fibre coatings with JFC's UV-curable coatings.
In April 2021, Covestro had already acquired over 70% of the shares of the Japanese company based in Tsukuba as part of the acquisition of DSM's Resins & Functional Materials business, while JSR Corporation held the remaining percentage. Covestro has now purchased it for a price in the mid-single-digit million-euro range. Both the production in Tsukuba as well as the research and development activities in Kanagawa will continue unchanged for the all 65 employees.
“The Covestro Coatings & Adhesives business already has an outstanding position in the field of fiber optical coatings. By fully purchasing JFC, we can now develop the business independently. The market segment has tremendous growth potential, especially due to the roll-out of future 5G technology,” stated Thorsten Dreier, the head of the business unit Coatings & Adhesives at Covestro.
The increasing demand for connectivity and the roll-out of 5G technology are creating a surge in bandwidth demand for fixed and mobile network operations, so there is an enormous request of fibre optical cables that could allow a reliable transmission of high data rates.
“Japan plays an important role in the global fiberglass market. We appreciate JSR’s long-term support in establishing JFC’s presence. In combination with Covestro's global network, we are using this strong base for future growth potential. This also underlines Covestro's clear commitment to the Japanese market,” added the president of Covestro, Kimiyasu Yonemaru.