Mitsui Chemicals to Buy JSR for 11.6 Billion Dollars in Japan's Largest Chemicals Deal

Mitsui Chemicals said on Monday that it has agreed to buy JSR, the Tokyo based maker of photoresists used to print circuits on silicon wafers, for 1.84 trillion yen, or about 11.6 billion dollars. Reuters reported that it is the largest deal ever in Japan's chemicals sector. Mitsui's board approved the purchase on Monday and the company signed a share purchase agreement the same day with funds managed by JIC Capital, the investment arm of the state backed Japan Investment Corp.

The price breaks down into 1.3921 trillion yen of equity value and 447.9 billion yen of interest bearing debt and other items. The Development Bank of Japan will invest 200 billion yen alongside Mitsui and will end up holding non voting preferred shares, which leaves Mitsui with all of JSR's voting rights. Mitsui plans to fund the purchase with a bridge loan of 1.64 trillion yen from its main banks, and then refinance with bank loans, bonds, equity and mezzanine financing. A shelf registration filed on Monday clears Mitsui to sell as much as 150 billion yen in new shares.

Why JSR matters

Photoresists are light sensitive coatings that let lithography tools print circuit patterns onto wafers. In its investor presentation, Mitsui described JSR as the number two supplier of photoresists worldwide and the only company able to offer both chemically amplified and metal oxide resists for extreme ultraviolet lithography, the process used for the most advanced chips. JSR's semiconductor materials sales rose from 157.9 billion yen in fiscal 2024 to 196.0 billion yen in fiscal 2025, the presentation shows.

JSR reported revenue of 440.7 billion yen and core operating profit of 62.3 billion yen for the fiscal year that ended in March 2026, with 6,951 employees. The price is large next to the buyer itself. Mitsui's whole market value stood at 664.6 billion yen on Friday, based on LSEG data cited by Reuters, and Mitsui shares fell sharply in Tokyo trading on Monday after the deal was confirmed.

A second sale in three years

JSR has already been through one buyout. A tender offer by a Japan Investment Corp vehicle closed in April 2024 and JSR shares were delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange that June. The new deal still needs competition and foreign investment clearances in Japan and other countries. Mitsui aims to close it in the second half of the fiscal year ending March 2028, and the final price can move at closing.