Samsung Electronics acquires entire stake in CSOT from Samsung Display for 1.27 trillion KRW

Samsung Electronics' TV division has acquired the entire 10.16% stake in China’s CSOT from Samsung Display. The acquisition was announced, stating that the stake was purchased for 1 trillion 271.8 billion KRW. The deal aims to "strengthen strategic collaboration." The transaction date is set for December.

Previously, Samsung Display increased its stake in CSOT from 5.02% to 12.33% after selling an 8.5-generation LCD factory in Suzhou to CSOT in 2020. The sale was valued at 1 billion 800 million USD, comprising 739 million USD for the front-end line (SSL) and 341 million USD for the back-end module line (SSM). At that time, the ownership of the front-end line was 60% Samsung Display, 30% Suzhou government, and 10% CSOT. Samsung Display received CSOT shares instead of cash for its 739 million USD share of the front-end line sale.

Although Samsung Display retained its stake in CSOT, its direct business relevance diminished, and it withdrew from the LCD business in the first half of 2022. Analysts suggest that Samsung Display held the stake on behalf of Samsung Electronics’ TV division to manage the LCD supply chain.

Currently, Samsung Electronics’ TV division relies heavily on CSOT for LCD procurement and plans to increase its dependence on BOE. A memorandum of understanding was reportedly signed to boost LCD procurement from BOE to 6 to 7 million units in 2027 and 8 to 9 million units in 2028. This is a significant increase from the 2.2 million units procured in 2025 according to Omdia.

Reported by ZDNet Korea.